On the Wings of Victory
by AshRain114
Summary: Self-proclaimed coward Jane Braxton has been sucked into a book where monsters want to eat her. But the worst part? She's pubescent! Now, only twelve years old and barely able to hold a sword, she's dragged on a quest with an insane group of demigods who don't know the meaning of the words 'self preservation'. And if only her mother would give her a straight answer. OC TLT AU
1. Not Insane, but Maybe Dead

_Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riorden. I own nothing but my OC._

* * *

_**Am I Dead or Just Insane**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Not Insane but Maybe Dead**

* * *

Stuff like this isn't suppose to happen, at least not in _real_ life. Real life is boring and predictable and completely and totally safe. I've never walked into a Wal-Mart expecting certain death. Well, maybe on Black Friday but that's just a completely different thing altogether. I once saw this women get tazered over a pair of-

Okay, bit off topic. This ADHD thing sucks.

But in real life I was supposed to stuck in my dorm, studying for midterms. Not fighting monsters along side_ fictional characters._

I'm getting ahead of myself.

I don't remember how I found myself on a school bus. Later, when retelling this story, I would say that I pulled a 'Jason Grace', which probably doesn't make sense to you. Or maybe it does, depends on who you are, really.

Back to the school bus.

I remember that I was sitting by myself. I was kind of offended because most of the seats had three or even four kids jammed in them. Did I smell or something? I quickly smelled myself. Nope, normal.

In front of me were two boys, talking in not-so-hushed whispers about suspension and other things. I saw one, a skinny pale ginger boy with the start of a small beard on his chin, hold the other down in his seat. The so-called other had dark messy hair and deep green eyes and was cute, you know...for a twelve-year-old.

Why was I on a bus with a bunch of middle schoolers? How did they not notice the random college student sitting among them?

It was then that I realized how…big, everything seemed. I looked down at my body.

"Oh _hell _no." I muttered quickly. I was _pubescent_! I looked at my barely there breasts and lack of curves angrily. I had been very proud of my adult figure. What the hell?

So, either this was a dream, or…..nope it had to be a dream.

"What do you think Jane?" I jumped at the sound of my name. I looked up and saw that the two boys in front of me had turned. The Ginger was giving me an expecting look.

The dark-haired one was staring at the Ginger exasperated.

"Uh, I wasn't listening." I went with the safe option. Ginger boy rolled his eyes while Green eyes chuckled in that slightly high pitched twelve-year-old way.

"What do you think about the questions?" Ginger repeated. Questions? What questions?

It was then I realized I was holding a piece of paper in my hand. When had that gotten there? I raised it up to read it…only…

"Uh...not in English?" I squinted.

Green eyes laughed like I'd said something funny, but the Ginger only sighed. "Dyslexia acting up again?"

Dyslexia? I didn't have dyslexia. I loved to read. But as I further examined the paper I realized he was right, the letters jumped around on the papers before I could make sense of them.

Great.

"Students!" A deep voice called from the front of the bus. I leaned out into the aisle to see a man in a wheel chair. He had a long hair and a beard with a tweed jacket on, probably the teacher.

"We are almost there," Tweed Jacket said, "I will be taking roll call. Please answer when your name is called." I froze. My name wouldn't be on that sheet! They would know I wasn't supposed to be there.

Even worse…what if my name_ was_ there?

"Nancy Bobofit" He called.

"Present," Called out a high pitch nasally voice a few seat ahead of me. Bobofit? What kind of name is that. I shook my head._ Focus._

But I was finding that hard to do. Images were swirling around in my head faster than I could process them. Every little thing seemed to catch my attention. The teacher, Green Eyes, the kid picking his nose (gross). My knee was bouncing up and down and my hands were playing with each other as if even _they_ didn't know what to do.

"Jane Braxton?" Once again, I jumped when my name was called.

"Present," I called out weakly. Oh, God. Please be a dream. Please be a dream. I pinched myself...

_God damn _that hurt. Okay not dreaming. I shook my head rapidly going through every possibility for my being here while Tweed Jacket called names.

"Don Garber"

"Present!" Maybe I was in a coma...

"Sandy Hillsbery"

"Present" Maybe I'm dead! Woah, no need to sound so enthusiastic. But then again, death might be preferable to going through puberty, _again. _

"Percy Jackson"

"Present." The green eyed kid in front of me said. I frowned. Percy Jackson? I knew that name. My friend Sarah read these books about this kid. Something about greek mythology? Who knows.

But it's probably just a coincidence. My room mate talked about those books for months. I knew enough from her ramblings to know that it was about some greek stuff with Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and-

"Grover Underwood?"

"Present" No way. My eyes bugged out of my head. Grover? There is _no way _that's a coincidence.

But I couldn't be in a_ book_. That was just insane. I was asleep in my dorm right now. Sarah must have been talking about it last night before I went to bed and this was just some sort of insane fantasy I'd created in my mind.

After all, I'd seen the movie. They were all way older in it. So even if I was in the book (which I wasn't) then none of that insane crap would happen for years...right?

I took a deep breath. Okay don't make any presumptions yet. There's still the off chance that I'm dead.

I looked to the boy sitting in front of us. He kind of looked the same as Percy in the movie, not identical or anything but the same colours and face type. Grover on the other hand…

He seemed to be a big swirling ball of nerves. He jumped ever few seconds, and then would sniff the air nervously. I wondered what he was doing. If this was Grover, then the movie hadn't really gotten him right at all.

And then I started to wonder...what else had the movie gotten wrong? Maybe I should have read those books.

No. Calm down. You are_ not_ in a book.

I jerked forward as the bus came to a stop, hitting my head on the seat. Why didn't these things have seat belts again? I hauled my short ass up and peered out the window.

I recognized it, The Met in New York. I grinned, if I wasn't so freaked out I would have been ecstatic.

Wait a minute. Didn't that thing attack Percy in a museum? Or was it a school? Or maybe a swimming pool?

I gulped. I _really_ should have read the books.

Or maybe I shouldn't eat the cafeteria food right before I go to bed.

But I stood up with the rest of the kids and got into a line. This could be a dream, or maybe I just entered into insanity. I had a sinking feeling I was about to find out the hard way.

But either way. I loved museums.

* * *

"I hate museums." I grumbled. I didn't know what was the matter with me. I felt like I was on a super caffeine high. Like I downed one of those 24-Hour energy drinks that I used to cram for exams. I couldn't sit still, I kept looking everywhere at once, trying to take in very sight and sound. It was so busy and big that it was driving me crazy.

"Me too," Percy nodded, his hand were in his pockets but I could see them fiddling with things inside, obviously just as hyper as I was. Grover wasn't as bad, but he kept flinching at loud noises and sudden movements. He was making me very antsy and I wanted to yell at him to take a pill.

We followed the tour group. I hadn't even bother to answer any questions. If this was a dream it didn't matter, if it was real then I'd just copy Grover or something. I looked over to see if he'd answered any only to find him nervously chewing on what I assumed was our homework. Awesome.

"And here we have…" I block out the teacher, who I learned was indeed Mr. Brunner as he talked about yet another piece of ancient rock. Normally I'd be all over it, but today I just wanted to drill through my brain.

"_Will you shut up_!" For a second I thought it was me who had spoken, but the noise had come from behind me. I turned towards Percy, who was blushing a vibrant shade of red as the entire class looked at him. Behind him, Nancy Bobofit smirked triumphantly.

Mr. Brunner paused and turned to him, "Mr. Jackson. Did you have a comment." Percy's blush deepened. I coughed to hide my laugh and he glared at me.

"No, sir."

"Perhaps," Brunner pointed to a picture on the giant rock, "You'll tell us what this picture represents." Suddenly I pieced it together. I knew this part! It _was_ in the movie.

They must have aged up the characters. Ha! Figures...

But if this was _that_ part...then that meant. I scanned the room and found the other teacher. One I hadn't even noticed until now.

She was way older than in the movie, wrinklier but had the same not-so-friendly demeanour. In fact, when she caught me staring she sent me a dark glare that made me quickly look away with chills.

"-living and growing completely undigested in the Titan's stomach," I shook my head as I zoned back into the conversation. What the hell had they been talking about? Context, people. "The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in tartarus, the darkest part of the underworld." He paused as if giving us all a moment to ponder that, "On that happy note it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside."

* * *

I was very happy to follow the scary monster lady out of the museum, even if it looked like it was going to rain. I looked down at my attire. Jeans and a tank top with a ratty khaki jacket overtop and a backpack. Nothing waterproof.

I followed Grover to a fountain away from the other students. They were all acting….well like sixth graders. I sat down on the fountain, shouldering off the backpack and groaning in relief. The black sneaker's I was wearing had seen better days and it felt nice to rest my feet.

"Where's Percy?" I grunted out, rubbing my foot.

"C-Brunner wanted to talk to him." I wanted to roll my eyes. Way to almost blow your cover. I tried to remember what Brunner's _actual _ name was, but I couldn't. Well, it started with a 'C'.

Grover looked at me through narrowed eyes, "You okay Jane?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"Sure, why?"

"You've been acting…strange today." I tried to act causal, but not look like I was acting casual….which is harder than you think.

How did I normally act around these guys? Apparently they knew me.

What was I talking about. This was a _dream. _It shouldn't matter how I act.

So why did I still have the incredibly strong instinct to fit in?

"Not feeling to well." I decided on. Heavy footsteps alerted us to Percy walking over to us with a small frown on his face.

"Detention?" Grover asked sympathetically. Percy shook his head, sitting on the other side of Grover.

"Nah, not from Brunner." He sighed, unwrapping his sandwich. I looked at my bag that I had carried most of the day. Maybe there was food in there, "I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean- I'm not a genius." Grover was silent, and I was to busy inhaling the victory sandwich I'd found in my bag to try and help him.

"Can I have your apple?" Grover asked Percy after a long an awkward silence. Percy didn't say anything and just handed it to him.

After that I ate, Grover ate, and Percy stared broodingly down Fifth Avenue.

Now when I discovered that we were still in New York I was ecstatic. I grew up in the city and was pretty familiar with the layout. Also I tended to get very nervous in places I didn't know. I've been known to study over floor plans and maps for hours getting to know a place before venturing out.

Sadly, it wasn't long before our quiet lunch session had to be ruined by a walking train-wreck. Nancy Bobofit, the Red-haired girl Percy had yelled at earlier, walked by us and 'accidentally' spilt her lunch all over me and Grover.

"Oops." She grinned at us. I glared while trying to peel the half eaten sandwich off my leg without getting ketchup on my pants. I was only half successful.

Then the weirdest thing happened.

The water in the foundation behind me started to bubble, as if boiling. I swallowed nervously, standing up and moving away.

The water then sprung out like a whip and wrapped around Nancy, pulling her back into the water. The resulting splash covered several students who jumped back, shrieking, but it also seemed to shield people from what had actually happened.

Okay. Freaky water powers. This is definitely Percy Jackson.

Or a dream. Or I'm crazy. Or dead. I still haven't ruled those out.

"Percy pushed me!" Bobofit cried. I looked at her like _she_ was crazy, Percy hadn't been anywhere _near_ her. The kids were all muttering to themselves. I turned to Percy who seemed just as confused as everyone else.

"Now, _honey_-" Mrs. Dodds seemed to pop out of nowhere. I jumped and realized she was speaking to Percy. She had a gleeful look on her face as if she'd been waiting for this for a long time.

Oh yeah, she probably had been.

"I know," He grumbled, "A month erasing workbooks," I would have laughed if I didn't understand how dangerous this was about to get.

"Come with me!" She snarled. Percy sighed and got up, but then I did the most impulsive thing I'd ever done in my entire life.

"Wait!" I cried, pushing in front of Percy, "I pushed her, Percy wasn't even near her."

For the rest of my life I will never understand why I did that. Maybe it was the ADHD. I mean, I was the most cowardly person I knew. You know how life is, Survival of the people smart enough to run away.

But apparently I'd gone from Slytherin to Gryffindor overnight, because I was standing protectively in front of Percy as Mrs. Dodds narrowed her beady eyes on me.

She looked me up and down, as if debating whether I was worth the effort. Any other day I'd be seriously offended, but right now I was hoping that I wouldn't be.

Apparently I was, "Both of you, come." Great, now I'd just signed my death warrant.

_Please, let me be dreaming._

Grover seemed to be hyperventilating. I gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder which was probably anything but, and then turned to follow Mrs. Dodds.

Who already at the museum doors.

Okay, that's not creepy or anything.

We followed her further and further into the museum, and the reality of the situation started to set in. Breathing got harder and I started to sweat. I swallowed and I kept looking for a way, any way, out of this.

This woman was going to try to _kill _me.

Finally, we stopped. I was terrified. Any second now that thing was gonna pop out and straight up murder us.

"You've been giving us problems, Honey." I frowned, then realized she was talking to Percy, who looked very confused.

"Yes ma'am." He said, going for the safe route.

"Did you really think you would get away with it?" Uh oh, shit was about to get real. She seemed completely focussed on Percy, so I slowly started to back up. Maybe she wouldn't notice if I left.

"I'll-I'll try harder ma'am." I felt bad for him, but I barely knew him. There was absolutely no way I was going to risk my hide for some kid I'd just met. Sorry, no hero complex for me. I'll just go.

Thunder shook the building. I stopped moving backwards.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson." Mrs. Dodds snarled, "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." Percy just gave her a blank face.

"Er-"

"Well?" She hissed expectantly. I started to move back again. She hadn't even acknowledged my existence. I took another step.

"Ma'am, I don't."

"Your time is up."

Shit.

I watched as she transformed. It was different than the sudden burst in the movie, but this was even more horrifying.

Her jacket seemed to melt straight into her body, becoming a thick layer of leather skin. Her nails elongated into sharp yellowing claws and peeling from her back like a snake sheds it skin were two large leathery wings. Worst of all was her face. Her face tightened, looking emaciated with hollow cheeks and sharp cheek bones. Her yellow eyes were slit like a cats, and her teeth sharped to points.

I moved away quicker, tripping on my own feet and falling to the ground. I felt bad for abandoning Percy, but I was getting out of there. I was no demigod. This wasn't my fight.

I was just about to leave when something blocked my path, or rather…someone.

Brunner had somehow wheeled his chair up the stairs and through the many halls in order to get to where we are now. He gave me a knowing grin and I suddenly felt incredibly bad about leaving Percy.

He turned away from me and towards Percy. In his hand he held a pen. I fought a smirk. The pen is mightier than the sword,_ indeed_.

"What ho, Percy!" Brunner cried out, throwing the pen towards him. I watched, mystified, as the pen switched to sword mid throw. I shakily got to my feet. The creature seemed wary of Percy now that he was armed, and Percy was looking at the sword, unsure of what he was supposed to do. I stepped away from Mr. Brunner who looked like he was getting ready to go into horse mode should this get out of hand.

Out of nowhere, the monster changed tactics. Abandoning Percy she turned towards me.

I froze.

She snarled and started to fly towards me. I didn't know what to do. Behind her I could see Percy looking at me in horror. I raised my arm, hoping to catch her talon there rather than my throat.

It worked, fortunately for my throat, not so fortunate for my arm.

I cried out in pain, and stumbled back. Leaning against the museum wall. I clutched my arm, trying not to think about the blood that soaked my shirt. I looked up just in time to see the monster come in for another pass.

I whimpered as she came nearer, then a bronze glint behind her caught my eyes. Percy had aimed, and thrown the sword. It catapulted through the air and hit the monster right in the bullseye.

The sword passed through the monster like water, and then kept going, right towards me. I screeched and dropped right as it smashed into the wall above my head. I waited for the pain of a bronze sword crashing into me.

Instead, a small ballpoint pen landed in my lap.

I was breathing heavily, adrenaline still rushing through my system. Percy's eyes were as wide as mine. He quickly walked over to me and grabbed my arm. Mr. Brunner was nowhere to be found.

I winced and sucked in a breath as Percy looked at it. It wasn't as bad as I though. A diagonal slash along my forearm. There wasn't even that much blood. But the pain was still there.

"I think you're gonna need stitches." He muttered. I agreed with him. He looked around the room, dazed, before turning to look back at me, "Did we just-" He trailed off, looking as if he didn't quiet believe what had just happened.

"Yup." I nodded. I think I was in shock.

He nodded, but he looked to be a million miles away, "I'll go get Brunner, stay here." I nodded, wincing as he dropped by arm and ran out.

Great, I thought, I'm actually stuck in a piece of fiction.

And I had no idea how I was gonna live through it.

* * *

**A/N: WARNING! This is just a preview chapter. I'm going to scope out the responses and see If I want to continue it. I can't promise anything right away, but If there's a positive response to it, I will continue it.**

**Yes, this is an OC. It's even a self insert. I don't live in denial about this. But If I can't write myself into Camp-Half blood then there is no point to this website. So read if you like, ignore if you don't.**

**So I got this idea while writing Between Reality, my other Percy Jackson story(Which is no longer on the site, sorry) and I ran with it. No movie bashing here folks! I loved the movie! I don't like comparing things because it just creates unnecessary competition and fighting.**

**So review and give me your thoughts. If Anyone here is from ATSWNT, then I promise that I won't slack on the chapters for that either.**

**So Please review! I try to reply to every review, especially if you have questions, so feel free to ask anything. And i mean anything, feel free to get personal!**

**So until next time, whenever that may be!**

**-Ash**


	2. Oh Great, I'm a Demigod

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.**_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Oh Great, I'm a Demigod.**

* * *

If I thought the Museum had been torture, it was nothing compared to the next couple of months.

You don't get to experience these huge time gaps in movies, because nobody wants to watch the day-to-day events of normal lives. It's boring, messy and just all around a terrible time.

And this particular time gap lasted until the end of the school year.

First off all, we all attended a boarding school called Yancy Academy. It was for 'special' kids. Turns out, I not only Dyslexia, but ADHD as well. Which explained my inability to stay focused for longer than ten seconds. My mind sped around the world at a million miles per second, and it _sucked._

I am also 100% positive that I did_ not_ have these disorders in my world.

I vaguely remembering movie-Grover mention something about how these are important for demigods. That confused me. I wasn't a demigod. Nope. Not me.

Yes, I realize I was knee deep in da Nile, but at this point I was still trying to get through middle school...again. I thought it might be easy, seeing as the schoolwork was nothing compared to collage - but I was starting to realize that I remembered very little from middle school.

I was _not _smarter than a 6th grader.

But add that to my dyslexia and I was getting steady B- and Cs, which was dismal compared to my straight A senior year.

But at least I was nowhere near as bad as Percy, who had a much worse case than me. I mean, didn't they have special teaching assistants and such for kids with Dyslexia? To help them read and write material to give them an equal footing with other kids? Percy had just been thrown with the sharks with both feet cut off and told to swim, no wonder he was having troubles.

Every class he snapped at the teachers, fought with other students and was sent out into the hall. He told me at some point that he'd been kicked out of every school he'd ever been to, and I was starting to see why.

I was growing nervous. Summer was approaching quickly and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. In my world I had been foster parented since I was 10 to when I was 18. Then I had inherited enough money from my parents to rent an apartment and start my first year in collage.

Now what? Am I still with the foster system? Did I have a family? Were my parents...

Nope, nope, nope. Do _not _get your hopes up. They will crash down on you harder than a skydiving elephant.

But I couldn't just _ask_ someone! I'd get sent to the nurses office, or a psych ward. But near the end of the school year it would seem that my question would be answered.

It was at the end of Latin class when Mr Brunner asked me to stay behind. Bobofit sent me a smug look and I rolled my eyes, hauling up my bags and moving to the front of the class.

"Sir," I gave him my most innocent smile, "I don't know what she told you, But it was most definitely a lie, I mean, Kool-Aid? Come on!"

A soft condescending smile appearance on his face, "This isn't about that, Miss Braxton."

I blushed deep red and fidgeted, "Well then..."

Brunner chuckled and folded his hands on the desk, "Miss. Braxton, I am aware of your situation with Foster care." I winced at that, feeling my hope crash on me. Of _course_ I was in Foster care, what else? Brunner cleared his throat and continued, "And I may have a solution, perhaps not permanent, but maybe enough to keep you out of the system."

"A home?" I hoped, silently praying that he wasn't about to ask what I thought he was.

"No, A summer camp."

Fuck.

Nope. No way was I going to that...that.._.death camp. _

I mean, I have no idea how long I'd be there before Percy showed up. Maybe years! But even thinking about all that Physical training almost made me sick. I was not an active person. I could live with an a bit of chub and noodle arms. My idea of strenuous activity was getting off my bed to walk to the fridge and back. Not sword fighting and acrobats!

But if I stayed here would I get attacked again? Maybe not. Mrs. Dodds only put her attention on me once Percy was armed. Before that I could have snuck away and she wouldn't even have noticed. Maybe I could stay safe here.

I paused for a minutes. Oh, who am I kidding. All of this alternate world crap revolves around this Greek insanity. I'm gonna have to go to this Death Camp. This sucks.

I tried to smile at Mr. Brunner, but it came out like more of a grimace. "I'd like that."

"Good good, " He seemed genuinely relieved that I'd excepted, and for a moment I wondered what would have happened if I hadn't. Would they have kidnapped me? Sent an Ancient Greek Mob hit out after me? Did they have Mob hits in ancient Greece? Well if they did I would have had one on me.

Mr Brunner sighed, "Come to my office tonight, around 8 if that's alright, and I'll explain the camp - in further detail." I nodded and held the grin in place.

"Sure, sir." Then I turned and left.

Oh boy, what had I gotten into?

* * *

I'm pretty sure our new Math teacher was from hell. And seeing as our last math teacher actually _was _from hell, that's saying something. She was way too chipper. I swear you could go right up to her and punch her in face and she'd thank you for it and give you a gold star or something.

It made me sick.

Since nobody in the school seemed to remember the previous demon teacher, I kept my remembrance of her on the down low. The only people who knew that I remembered her were Percy and Grover.

Speaking of Percy...

He kept springing Mrs. Dodds on everybody. Using her name in casual conversation, like one day somebody would slip up and find out this had just been a really big prank. But instead, he just managed to alienate himself further from the rest of the students, until the only person he was really trying to trip, was Grover.

Who was a really bad liar.

"Hey Grover! What questions did Mrs. Dodds assign?"

"Er, twenty and- I mean, Who?"

It was almost physically painful to watch.

I know Percy was a bit annoyed that I wasn't backing him up, but if there was one thing I learnt from my time in high school is that people are constantly looking for something to make fun of your for. So I did the smart thing and kept my head down about the incident.

But being back in middle school brought back memories of a nicer time, when Twelve year olds were more interested in trading Pokemon card than having sex, sneaking soda verses sneaking beers, and I happen to know that a certain black haired son of Poseidon had a candy stash that he'd been selling out of his dorms.

Why couldn't adulthood be more like this?

I lived in a single room dorm, much to my pleasure. I'd met the girls in my grade and I'd be far to worried that one of them might steal something, or set fire to something, or...you know, try to suffocate me with a pillow in my sleep.

Not that I was a perfect angel, mind you. With my new-found ADHD, I found myself getting angrier quicker than I ever had before. And that quickly lead to retaliation. But they can't prove that I put the Kool-Aid crystals in the shower heads.

Alright, so I didn't _always _keep my head down.

But when I got back to my dorm, I'd finish up my homework then fall back on my bed and calculate how much time would have to pass before the invention of the smart phone. I didn't have very many friends here (see the shower head incident above for details), just Percy and Grover, but they were both locked up in their room studying for exams.

But Brunner had wanted to see me tonight. So I had to make a decision. Should I go with them to the demigod camp? Train with them, and find out what my purpose was here?

Or should I go back to Foster care and wait for my life to catch up with itself?

_That's so boring_! Something inside my head yelled at me.

_But Safe._ The other side argued.

"Boring and Safe." I nodded to myself, "Yes, that's what I need."

And with that I decided that I wouldn't go to Mr. Brunner's office tonight.

* * *

At around eight I found myself sitting in Mr. Brunner's office.

Okay, so sue me. I decided to go anyways. My inner Gryffindor strikes again. I really gotta kill that part of me before it goes and gets _me _killed.

I sat on a chair in front of his desk, which was filled with students papers and large books written in Greek and Latin. Mr Brunner wasn't here at the moment, so I sat there awkwardly.

Grover was here, which made sense, but I had to pretend it didn't. I couldn't exactly tell them where I was from. How do you ever put that into casual conversation?

'_Hi, I come from a place where you exist in a book!'_

Yeah, that would go down well.

So, now it was time to find out how good of an actress I was.

"So, Grover." I said in what I hoped was a confused tone, "You go to this….camp, as well?" He swallowed, shifting his crutches in the side of his chair.

"Er, Y-Yeah, My whole family works there, so I help out and stuff."

I raised an eyebrow, "And...Stuff?"

But he was saved from answering as the door creaked behind them and Mr. Brunner wheeled himself into the office. Instead of moving behind the desk, he parked right in front of me and held his hands on his lifeless legs.

We all sat in awkward silence for a long time.

I let out a breath, "Um...you wanted to talk to me?

"Yes." He nodded. He paused slightly before continuing, "I've been doing this for a long time, but there is never an easy way to do it." Yeah, okay Mr. Dramatic, just get it over with.

He reached over to his desk and grabbed the mythology textbook he used in his class. "You know the myths of the Greeks Gods, well of course you do I've been teaching them to you."

"Well, yeah." I nodded.

He opened the book to a page and showed me an Ancient Greek picture of a man holding Medusa's head, "And of course, the stories of their children."

Again, I nodded, "Sure, Hercules, the...the one with..um...the bull?" I blushed as my inarticulate answer.

Brunner chuckled at that softly, "That will be question 21 on my exam, so study up. What if I were to tell you that they were real."

For a moment I was to busy silently cheering that I'd gotten an exam question out of him. Then I reversed over what he'd said and paused.

I blinked at him, "You mean the bull guy?"

"No, no...Well yes." Brunner paused, sighing, "But that's not what I meant. What if I told you that the Greek Gods were very much alive."

I immediately put on the same face I got whenever my friend Sarah started talking about her crazy great uncle's alien abduction. I liked to call it 'Politely Skeptical'. Or, '_You be trippin_'.

Either way, it seemed to the usual reaction to this as Mr. Brunner simply set out a sigh.

"Yes, very few believe me when I inform them of this." He explained to me quietly. "But it is the truth."

"Prove it." I dared him

He looked at Grover pointedly, and I frowned. Looking over at Grover I watched him as he reached down and tore his own foot off.

I yelped, jumping up._ Knowing_ that someone was a goat man, and actually _seeing_ it were two very different things.

"Okay, okay!" I breathed heavily, "I believe you, just...put your damn foot back on!" I glared at Brunner, "Don't be gentle or anything, I'm sure she won't go into shock."

"Language." Brunner chided me gently, sending me a apologetic look. I returned it with an 'Are you kidding me?'.

"Okay…" I tried to calm myself down, "That's kind of….different." I must have had a shocked look on my face, because they both looked at me calmly.

I don't think everything had really hit me yet. Months, I'd been here, and I hadn't had any kind of freak out, or panic attack or anything. I just, went with it. And that wasn't normal. So maybe this was me catching up with everything.

I groaned, placing my head between my knees, "But it's just myth's." I grumbled.

"Myths are always based in fact," Brunner said softly, "Even though some stories have been a bit-skewered throughout the ages, the basics are the same. There are now 12 Olympian gods who control the forces of nature."

I started to think about everything I'd learned in science since I was a child. About wind currents and ocean tides and erosion. Those were natural forces. Controlled by gravity and magnetic forces. Not gods.

The more I thought about it, the bigger my headache got. So I dropped it. I had a feeling I'd need to just...accept things and not over think them.

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked, dreading the answer. Grover and Brunner exchanged looks. I wished they'd stop doing that and get on with this so I could go take this panic episode to my room where no one would judge me.

"In the stories," Brunner began, "These heroes were something called Demigods."

I shook my head, "No way," I glared at them, "Nope, nope nope. Not me, you got the wrong person. 100% Human, that's me."

They both stared at me, dead serious.

I groaned, "Why me?" I slumped in my seat, rubbing my forehead where a headache was forming. I was _so_ going to get killed. "Fine...which god?"

I was more curious about this then I let on. In my world I'd had a mum and dad. Two biological human parents who I'd loved very much. They'd raised me until...

I cleared by throat, taking myself off that train of thought.

"We don't know." Brunner said softly.

I blinked.

"You don't know." I repeated, "Then how do you know I'm a….demigod." I stuttered over the word. It felt so different in my mouth.

"You have all the signs," Grover said quickly, like he had to defend himself, "ADHD with Dyslexia. Plus a Kindly One attacked you. If you were mortal she would have left you alone." I wanted to scream out that I didn't used to have these things. I _wasn't_ dyslexic and ADHD. I don't_ have_ demon ladies trying to kill me. But instead I took a deep breath.

"Is there...any way to find out who my parent is?"

Mr Brunner look at me sadly, "There are ways. You may show abilities that only certain gods have. Or you could be claimed."

"Claimed?" Okay that wasn't in the movie.

"Yes, sometimes a god will send a sign, showing that you are their child." He explained.

"Sometimes?" I asked. The room grew awkward, as it seemed I had stumbled onto a touchy situation. "Sometimes it doesn't." I clarified. They nodded.

"Yes. For now, when you get to camp you'll be staying with the Hermes Cabin. Hermes, as I'm sure you remember from my class," I blushed, not being able to recall anything about the god. Chiron chuckled, "Question 12, was the patron God of travellers, and you'll find that he had no qualms with housing demigods who find themselves with no place to go."

"Holy crap." I whispered, rubbing my forehead, "Just...well...shit."

"Language."

I wanted to yell that I'd just had my entire world flipped all around and If I wanted to swear I would, but my mind was still processing all the knowledge it had gained.

"Are you okay?" Grover asked gently. "A lot of Demigods have a hard time believing."

"Yeah well," I swallowed, "Almost getting killed by your math teacher kind of just…numbs out the shock." I held up my arm just for effect. Across my forearm there was now an almost heeled cut, which I was told would most likely scar.

My first battlescar.

Brunner winced, "Yes my dear. I'm most sorry about that. Now..." He spoke in a lower voice, "When the school year is finished, go with Grover. He has a bus ticket and will escort you to Argus, who will drive you to camp". I nodded, trying to force that all into my memory.

"What about Percy?" I asked without thinking. They both looked at me in shock and I thought quickly on my feet. Rule one when it comes to lying - go on the offensive. "Oh, come on now! I'm not the brightest kid, but I'm not completely stupid. ADHD, dyslexic, attacked by demon…."

"Percy is more…complicated." Brunner said, sounding both exasperated and sad about the situation, "He's still under custody of his mother. It's up to her whether he goes to camp or not." Is it? I guess he was only twelve.

"How exactly _did_ you convince child services to let me go?" I asked, confused, "They're kind of strict about that sort of thing."

"We have a few of our people in there, scouting for half-bloods like yourself. Don't worry my dear, it's all taken care of." I nodded. "Now head off to bed, you have exams tomorrow." My mind was still reeling, but I nodded, and absentmindedly stood up and left Mr. Brunner and Grover to talk.

* * *

"I'm worried about her." Grover whispered to Chiron a few minutes after Jane had left.

Chiron opened up the wheelchair and extended, taking up half the classroom in his usual albino horse form. "Ah, that's better. Do not worry for her, Grover. Percy's powerful scent manages to completely mask her own. Not even the Kindly One noticed her."

Grover nodded, but still shifted, looking almost nauseous.

"Sir..." He said softly, "I can't take on another Demigod. Not now, not after what happened last time."

Chiron looked at him softly, "Make Percy your priority. Make sure he's safe. Jane will be fine with Argus. Even knowing who she is, her scent is weak. More than likely she'll only be at camp a few years."

Grover nodded, before looking around like someone might be listening in, not aware that outside the classroom, A twelve-year-old, dark-haired boy had just wandered up to the door and prepared to knock.

He lowered his voice.

"I'm worried about Percy, Sir."

* * *

**A/N: Well looks like people are enjoying this! That makes me happy, as I've never really done an OC before. I really wanted to get this bit over and done with and not draw out her time at Yancy. I'm also going to introduce her parent pretty quickly, I don't like doing the, "Hey, can you guess her parent?" thing, when all the readers are like, "Dude, we guessed her parent 10 chapters ago, get on with it."**

**If you've already guessed her parent then I assume that you must be the oracle at Delphi because I haven't given any clues whatsoever. Like I said, I didn't want to make it a guessing game.**

**I know that some people like to have a visual aid while they read these, so I drew a picture of my OC. However, I have no ability to draw 12 year olds, so It' a picture of Older Jane. Use your imagination to see a younger version. Link is on my profile.**

**Okay, here's something important. I usually write my stories in a Close Third Person. But this time I wanted to do a first person, because it's the way PJO is written, and It really wonderfully done. But if I slip into third person anywhere, please let me know so I can fix it. I noticed I did it a few times while i edited this piece, but if I missed anything, please let me know.**

**When will I get the next chapter out? Soon hopefully, I need to update my other story as they are very patiently waiting for me, and I also want to write ahead some before I post. I've written up to somewhere in 'I Capture a Flag', but I'd really like to at least get finished, 'I Am Offered a Quest'.**

**Note on Review...**

**TheWannabeBruceLee: Thank you! I really wanted to make sure that she wasn't a Mary Sue, just because there is an overabundance of them in this fandom. But telling someone that their OC isn't a Mary Sue is basically the best compliment you can give. So Thank you again!**

**Stephene Daughter of Hades: Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!**

**Naturestune: Thank you so much! I'd really glad you like this!**

**If you have any question, concerns, thought's ideas or anything else you need to get off your chest Just review or PM me, either one. I respond to all either through PM, or in my next chapter! Remember, if you want a PM review reply you need to have your PM feature on.**

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


	3. Welcome to the Death Camp

_**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Welcome to the Death Camp**

* * *

The last few days of school passed in a blur, but finally the last day of term came around and I found myself packing up. Meeting up with Grover, he handed me a Greyhound ticket. To my surprise and delight, Percy was on the same bus as us. I smiled at him, waving. Grover and Percy sat together and I sat behind them.

Grover was acting strange, well stranger then usual. Every cough made him jump, he was looking everywhere, scanning everything. I was about to call him out on it when Percy beat me to the punch.

"Looking for Kindly Ones?" Grover jumped and whipped to look at Percy, terrified. I tried very hard not to laugh. Kindly One's? Wasn't that what they called the thing that tried to kill us at the museum?

"Wha-What do you mean?" Grover asked, his voice quivering. I kind of felt bad for the guy, he was scared out of his mind. I raised my eyebrow as Percy confessed to eavesdropping, but not on the conversation between me and Brunner, but on one between Brunner and Grover.

My curiosity of peaked.

"How much _did _ you hear?" Grover asked nervously.

"Oh, not much," Percy said, lying. He was a terrible liar, they both were. "What's the summer solstice deadline?" Now _that_ sounded important. I leaned forward in my seat.

"Yeah Grover? What is this…deadline?" Percy jumped at my sudden appearance. Apparently not realizing I had listened in.

Eavesdropping on the eavesdropper.

"Look, guys…I was just worried about you two, see" He swallowed and I raised an eyebrow, "I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…" Grover gave me a pointed look. I sighed, leaning back in my seat.

"Grover..." Percy looked at him exasperated.

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed," I mouthed _overstressed_ to myself in disbelief, "because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and…"

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." Percy finally said. And although that was the pot calling the kettle black, it was true. Grover blushed. Then reached into his shirt and pulled out a business card. Seriously?

"Just take this okay," He muttered, "In case you need me this summer." I peeked over again and saw the card was in some fancy script. I didn't even try to read it.

After a few moments of Percy decrypting it, he finally asked, "What's half-"

"Don't say it aloud!" He looked around to see if anyone had heard, "That's my, um…summer address." Smooth Grover, real smooth.

"Okay," Percy said, sounding put out for some reason. He mumbled something else I didn't hear. I sighed and put in my headphones, blocking them out.

What on Earth is that smell? I sniffed. Smelt like rotten eggs.

No sooner did I say that then the bus sputtered and died on the side of the hallway. The driver muttered something under his breath. I groaned and stood up, coughing as the stink worsened. The Air conditioning turned off and the effect was immediate as we waited to get off the bus.

I sighed at the breeze as I stepped off and we walked over to the side of the bus, leaning against it as we waited for the bus driver to fix whatever was wrong.

Across the street was a fruit stand. It wasn't that strange as there were all sorts of farms around here. You were never that far away from anything in these parts. Not like in some other states where you might a day's drive from he next city.

Grover and Percy seemed drawn to it in particular.

Probably thinking with their stomachs, as usual.

"Hey guys, what's so interesting?" I asked. Percy shrugged and pointed at three old ladies in chairs out front. I frowned as they were knitting a pair of jumbo socks. I snorted softly under my breath about the ladies needing glasses.

But Grover was just frozen stiff. HIs face was past pale and turning grey as he studied them. Then in an instant he had turned around to face the bus.

"We're getting on the bus, come one," He ran over to the bus and pried open the doors. Percy complained about the heat and didn't follow, instead looking back at the old women with a dazed look in his eyes.

Something about Grover's face however, worried me. I took one last glance back at Percy, and quickly followed Grover back onto the bus.

The wave of heat hit me like a brick, "Jesus Christ." I muttered. Percy was right, it was like a million degrees in here.

I spotted Grover back in his seat, half curled in on himself as he stared straight ahead, trying not to look out the opposite window where you could still see the ladies in their chairs.

"Grover." He was sitting in his chair, his eyes were wide in fear, like a goats. I sat down beside him, shaking him. "Seriously dude, calm down."

"This is really bad Jane." He said. I nodded, having no idea what he was talking about, but hoping to calm him a bit before Percy joined us.

The bus shuttered and came back to life. I sighed as the air conditioning hit my back. People started to climb on the bus. I bit my lip, returning to my seat.

Percy came onto the bus looking quiet ill. He took his seat beside Grover, who was still shaking in fear.

"Grover?" Percy asked. Grover looked at him.

"Y-Yeah?"

"What are you not telling me?"

I snorted behind them, which only Grover seemed to hear cause he glared at me. I raised my hands in mock surrender. He turned back to Percy, wiping the sweat that had gathered on his forehead.

"Percy, what did you see at the fruit stand?" He seemed to be dreading the answer.

"You mean the old ladies?" Percy asked. _No _ I thought, _The blueberries, did you get a good look at the blueberries! _Of course the old ladies. "What is it about them, man? They're not like…Mrs Dodds, are they?"

My smile dropped. Oh, I hadn't really thought about that. I hadn't gotten a super scary vibe from them, just...eeire. Like they didn't want to hurt me, but if they wanted to, they could.

"Just tell me what you saw." Grover repeated.

Percy hesitated and then answered, nonchalantly, "The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."

Even I had to freeze at that. I knew what that meant, I'd seen _Hercules. _I knew some stuff. The cutting of the string meant somebody died, or was going to die? But who?

It was obvious what Grover thought. He pressed three fingers to his heart and pressed outward. I didn't know what it meant, but something inside me felt better knowing he had done it.

"You saw her snip the cord?" Grover confirmed.

"Yeah, so?" Percy asked, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"This is not happening." Grover whispered to himself. His eyes were wide with terror and he started to chew on his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."

"The last time?" Percy asked the question I wanted to. What last time?

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth grade."

I leaned forward, "Grover?" I said gently, "Grover, you're scaring us."

Percy sent me a fleeting look before turning back to Grover, who was practically shaking in his seat. "Grover, what are you talking about?"

Grover took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself. He turned back to Percy, "Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."

Percy looked at him strangely, but nodded all the same. Grover looked relieved and calmed down a bit.

"Is this like a superstition or something?" Percy asked Grover.

"Or something." I grumbled, leaning back in my seat.

Percy didn't hear me. "Grover - the snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

Nobody answered him

* * *

Grover practically ran to the bathroom once they got to the terminal, yelling something about waiting for him.

I leaned against the outside of the mens washroom, crossing my arms as I waited for Grover to come out.

Percy shouldered his bag and headed for the doors of the terminal.

"Hey." I called, narrowing my eyes, "Where're you going?"

He paused, then pointed to the vending machine outside, "Just getting something to drink."

"Oh, okay." I nodded and started to study my fingernails. I heard the door open as Percy ran outside.

Ten minutes later Grover came out of the bathroom.

"Sorry about tha- Where's Percy?"

I looked up, blinking as I brought all my thoughts back to the present. I pointed outside, "He went to the vending Ma- Oh..." I inwardly groaned as I noticed he wasn't outside anymore.

* * *

To say Grover panicked would be an understatement.

He half dragged me out of the bus terminal. I cursed, as he was stronger than he looked. He was muttering under his breath about Percy and his impulsiveness. I try to dislodge his grip on my arm, only being partly successful.

"Grover!" I ripped my arm and slapped him across the face. Hard.

He took a few shaky breaths, "Thanks, I think I needed that."

"Good." I told him, "Now, do you know where he lives?"

Grover nodded, pulling out a piece of paper that had his address on it. He looked at it like it was gold, "Alright. Okay, I'm calm now."

"Good." I said, shaking my hand out, "Cause that slap really hurt. What's you're face made of? Titanium?"

Grover let out a weak chuckle, then nodded, determined. "Okay. Lets get you to camp first. Then I'll deal with Percy." I nodded, feeling a bit nervous.

Grover started to headed over to the part of the station where taxi's stood waiting for several people. I frowned.

"I'm taking a taxi?" I asked him, "To the mysterious magical camp? Are you for real?"

Grover rolled his eyes, "No." Then he wandered behind them where a man was leaning against a large white van. There was some sort of cursive type writing on the side which I wouldn't have been able to read if my life depended on it.

"I dunno," I smirked, looking at the white van, "Only if you have candy."

Grover ignored my joke and half dragged me over to the white van and then to the man leaning against it.

Even looking at this guy gave me a massive headache, "Woah!" I groaned, putting a hand to my forehead, "Dude, you're entire body is like a mirage, you know that right?"

The man chuckled lightly and got into the driver's seat. Grover shook his head.

"That's Argus." He explained, "He looks like that cause you're brain is trying to look through the mist. It'll be easier to look at him once you get to camp."

"Wait." I frowned, looking into the van, "You're not coming with me?"

Grover paused, "I'm sorry Jane, but Percy is a much stronger half-blood, Which mean's he's going to attract monsters like crazy. You should be fine. Argus is going to pick a few more of you up at the airport."

I groaned, "You know I hate you, right?"

He grinned, knowing I'd forgiven him, "No you don't."

I bit my lip. Part of me was happy that I'd be able to avoid the bull man incident. But this was literally the first time in months I would be on my own since I ended up in this crazy situation.

Remember what I said about being nervous in new places? I could already feel the butterflies in my stomach and I swallowed the lump that tried to force its way up.

But I nodded and tried to give him a reassuring grin, "Be careful Grover."

He gave me a quick half hug before trotting off to hail a cab.

With trepidation I climbed into the van.

* * *

They had picked up six more half-blood at the airport and we're now heading to camp. I didn't even look at them, but I could feel their curious stares as they checked me out. Three of them, all girls, went right to the front and started to giggle at some tabloid magazine. Two guys at right behind me and the last one sat right beside me.

Fantastic.

I stared out the window, half to avoid car sickness and half hoping that nobody would talk to me.

It wasn't working as well as I'd hoped

"Hey." The guy sitting beside me said to me.

I gave him a nod, then turned back to the window, hoping that he would get that I didn't want to talk.

"Hey, blondie."

I clenched my jaw. Maybe if I just ignored him he would go away.

I felt someone poke my side and I jumped. I tried to turn my scowl into something more pleasant as I turned to face whoever had harassed me.

"Can I help you?" I asked a boy, a bit older than me. Maybe thirteen or fourteen, he was about the same height as me though. My eyes were drawn to his hair which gravity seemed to have forgotten as it stuck straight up in natural cowlicks all over his head.

"Yeah, here." He handed me my ipod.

I gasped, and yanked it back, "How did you get that?"

He pointed to the red haired kid behind me, who looked back sheepish.

"That's George Stelson." he explained, "Son of Hermes. Dirty thieves, the whole lot of them!"

I reeled back at his strong English accent. He seemed like an overly cheerful kid, something I hadn't expected from the Demigods at the camp. I looked back at Stelson quickly, trying to remember something about Hermes. God of thieves, obviously.

The brown haired kid beside me grinned and continued, "I'm James," He introduced, "Also a son of Hermes."

I raised an eyebrow, "One of those 'Lot of Dirty Thieves'?" I questioned back, mocking his accent slightly.

He shrugged, still grinning, "How do you think I got that back?" He pointed to my ipod.

I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to show how very unamused I was.

"Hey, no harm done." He assured me, "Just a bit of fun really."

I nodded, but wrapped my bag strap around my leg all the same. A trick my mother had taught me when I was younger.

"So you're new." James smirked, looking down my bag.

I inwardly groaned, "Is it that obvious?"

"No." He paused, "Well, yes. But that's not how I knew." I gave him a look, waiting for him to continue. He obliged, "There's only about 100 kids at camp. You kind of know everybody."

That made me feel better. For one, there was fewer people there then I thought, and two I hated to stick out. Blending in, becoming one with the crowd. That was more my style.

"Yeah well," I fidgeted, "I'm not the only new kid. My friend, Percy, he's new as well."

James whistled, "Lucky. At least you'll know somebody."

"I'll know you." I pointed out, "And Grover."

"Grover you're satyr?" He asked, curious. "Where is he? Normally they escort the new kids to camp."

I felt a sting of hurt at that, and tried to swallow the bitterness, "He had to go after Percy. Something about him smelling...stronger?"

"Ah, sucks for him really." James grinned, obviously trying to cheer me up, "Probably gonna be a year rounder. Stuck at camp for most of his life."

The selfish part of me felt a bit better, but I'd probably stay at camp year round if I got the choice. I mean, I'd already done the school thing, and it was better than going back to foster homes.

Well If I survived the year anyway.

"So," James grinned, "Do you know your parent?"

I shrugged, "Had two parents. Don't even know which one is my godly one." I said this quietly like it was shameful, but James just chuckled.

"Great!" He patted me on the back, "Unless your claimed as soon as we get to camp you'll be in Hermes cabin with the rest of the unclaimed."

I piped up at that, "There's more unclaimed?"

"Oh yeah." He nodded, "Loads of them. Hermes takes the kids who have no other place to go. God of travelers right. So unclaimed and children of minor gods all stay with Hermes."

I nodded, remembering Brunner saying something similar at Yancy. I felt better knowing I wasn't the only one who didn't know who their parent was. I wasn't a complete freak after all.

"Yeah, but first you'll go to the Big House." James explained. He noticed my panicked expression and was suddenly reassuring, "I'll show you, don't worry. You'll talk to Chiron and Mr. D, and don't worry, he's like that with everybody."

I nodded, even though I wasn't sure if the 'he' was Chiron or Mr. D, or_ how_ he was with everybody.

But I felt better knowing that this James kid was willing to help me out. I wasn't proud. Opposite of, really. I had no problem exploiting his friendliness for my own benefit.

Plus it didn't hurt that he was cute.

You know. For a kid.

* * *

"Ah, Miss. Braxton, so glad you could join us." I stared at Mr. Brunner, now Chiron the centaur, as he placed down another card onto the table playing some card game, "Please sit down."

I blinked at him a few times, trying to understand what I was seeing. CGI was rather amazing for creating visual effects, but it was nothing like seeing something in the real world. The way the light caught on his albino coat. The way the wind rippled over the hair. The strange smell, a mixture of body wash and that natural musk you associate with farms. Not disgusting, just...there.

They were on the porch of a rather, well, Big House. The Camp here was a lot different then what I'd seen in the movie. More, open and welcoming then I'd expected. The Big House could be seen from anywhere in the valley, and I probably could have found it without James' help. But he insisted.

I shouldered off my duffle bag and sat down in a plastic chair between Mr. D and Chiron, who was dealing a set of cards between them. When he finished, he looked over at me kindly, "Now, my dear. May I ask where Grover is?"

I bit my lip nervously, hoping I wasn't about to get my friend into trouble, "Something happened on the bus that scared Grover real bad. Percy got freaked out and went AWOL, Grover dropped me off with Argus and went after Percy."

Chiron sighed and dropped his cards to the table, displaying his winning hand. Mr. D groaned and took the golden laurels off the top of his curly mop of black hair, throwing it across the table.

I faltered for a moment, feeling a strange tug in my gut. I shook my head, and turned back to the conversation. Probably just nerves...

"I was afraid of that." Chiron shook his head sadly, re-dealing the cards, "Percy has an unnaturally strong scent. Very unfortunate for him, and it attracts all sort of creatures."

"Like that...thing at the museum." I guessed and Chiron nodded.

"Yes, yes, You'll learn all about the various monsters during you're stay here. Lucky for you, your Demigod scent isn't very strong. You'll more than likely be able to stay home for most of the year."

Home, I swallowed. Yeah, like I had one of those.

Chiron then cleared his throat, looking pointedly at Mr. D.

The man sighed, not even looking up from his card. "Welcome to camp Half-Blood, we are very happy to have you with us, etcetera. Please try not to be killed during you're time here." He said, dryly.

"Oh, but being killed is the best part." I responded with a dry sarcasm.

Mr. D snorted in agreement, and I couldn't help but wonder if he'd caught my sarcasm or if he genuinely agreed with that statement.

Chiron quickly stepped in, "I'm sure you have lots of questions?"

I turned my glance from Mr. D to Chiron, "Yes, actually. How come you told me but not Percy."

"Well a Demigod's scent becomes stronger once they know who they are and your-"

"My scent isn't very strong." I finished, trying to force back the bitterness, "Yeah, I've got that."

Chiron hesitated, "You have to understand Jane, we didn't even know you _were_ a Demigod until The Kindly one attacked you. If you had never met Percy you could have gone your entire life without knowing."

"Ah-ha!" I jumped as Mr. D yelled in triumph, once again taking the golden laurels. I frowned as he grabbed them, feeling the same strange tightening in my gut.

I shook my head and turned back to Chiron, "So, Hermes Cabin?"

Chiron nodded, "Yes yes, I'll assign a camper to give you a full tour tomorrow. For now you'll stay in Hermes cabin. There's are 12 cabins in all. If your godly parent is discovered you'll be moved into the corresponding cabin."

I nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed. Although, it was much easier to accept than I'd thought it would be. Perhaps something to do with having months to come to term with what was happening. Or maybe there was something else interfering, making sure I stayed calm.

Or maybe I was just emotionally stunted.

Once again Chiron won and Mr. D threw down the laurels.

Before Chiron could grab them I reach forward and took them into my own hands, gripping them tightly.

Mr.D raised an eyebrow at me, but Chiron just watched me curiously.

"Jane?" He prodded, trying to get my attention.

But my focus was on the laurels. I knew about them, who didn't? Given to victors of great battles and games in Greek and Roman times. I furrowed my eyebrows as I stared at my reflection in the gold. It must be worth a _fortune_, but I felt no urge to take it.

After all, I hadn't earned them. I hadn't _won_ them.

Without another word, I handed them over to Chiron, who took them with a soft smile. But he wasn't looking at the laurels, he was looking above me.

"Oh." Mr.D groaned, "_Wonderful._"

I looked between the grinning face of Chiron to the frowning Mr. D, "What?"

Chiron nodded above my head and hesitantly I looked up.

There was a circle of glowing white light above my head, and in the circle was a shadowy outline of laurels. I swallowed.

"Please tell me this is normal and I'm not about to die or something." I whispered, staring at the light, panicked.

"Completely normal, my dear. It would also explain you're behaviour with the laurels." Chiron chuckled, placing said laurels on his head, " You are the Daughter of Nike, goddess of Victory."

"Uh-huh." I stared at the fading image with trepidation, "And that means...?"

"Well it explains why you're scent is so scarce." Chiron have her a comforting smile, "Nike is a minor goddess, and her children are seldom dangerous. However..." He paused, "It's not comforting for a child of her's to turn up. Especially now."

I but my lip and shifted, "Er-Why?"

"Children of Victory are very...rare." Chiron told me softly, "The last one I can remember in recent history was during the Second World War, although evidence may suggest there might have been one in either Vietnam or Korea. They exist during times of war. Great war."

I let out a shaky breath, "Well that's not good."

"It's extremely not good, Young lady, especially with everything that's going on." Mr. D spoke without looking up from his cards. Chiron sent him an exasperated glance.

I frowned quietly to myself. I knew what Chiron was thinking. If the lightning bolt wasn't returned, then there would be a huge war. What does it mean now that I'm here? Does it mean that Percy fails? Do I mess it all up?

I felt sick. No, I couldn't mess it up. I'd keep my head down, stay out of trouble. If I let Percy do his thing, then nothing to bad could happen right?

Right?

Chiron studied me for a few moments, then continued, "As a child of Nike, you have the ability to predict outcomes."

"Um...what?" I blinked at him blankly, my mind trying to keep up with the rapid topic changes.

Chiron pointed to the card game that him and Mr. D were playing, "Who will win?"

I looked at him incredulously, "How should I know. I don't even know what you're playing."

Mr. D made an aggravated sound at that, which Chiron promptly ignored, "Concentrate."

I shook my head. This was ridiculous. But I focused my eyes on the card game, studying the different cards, my eyes shifted to the deck and what was in their hands.

Then it hit me like a train. It was so obvious that I could have smacked myself.

"Chiron." I said, looking up, "Chiron will win."

Mr. D threw his cards down in annoyance, as Chiron showed his winning hand. I blinked. I had been right?

Chiron nodded at me, "More powerful children of Nike can predict the tides of war, however..."

"You've already made it pretty clear that I'm not that powerful." I finished for him.

Chiron chuckled, "Yes, you're very lucky. Now, I believe Mr. Tyler is still lurking around here somewhere. He'll be able to show you back to your cabin. Cabin 11 still, I'm afraid. However..." He paused, "Children of Nike are welcome to stay in Cabin 6 as well. The Parthenos, a great statue of the goddess Athena can be seen holding Nike out in her hand. The two goddesses are very close."

I paused, thinking it over, "Um, sir. Which cabin will Percy be in?"

He gave me a soft smile. "Cabin 11, until he is claimed."

I know it was stupid, but Percy was one of the few people in this world that I felt comfortable with. He was the first person I saw, along with Grover. It was only natural that I would want to stay close with him.

"I hope that...um...Cabin 6, won't be offended. But I think I'll stay in Hermes cabin..."

Chiron nodded, "Completely understandable. _Mr. Tyle_r." He called.

A few moments later James walked up on deck, still holding his bag from the van. Obviously he'd been waiting for me, which gave me all sorts of weird feelings. Maybe I'd have an actual friend here after all. "Yes, Chiron?"

"Escort Miss. Braxton here to Cabin 11, and please help to get her situated."

* * *

**A/N: Wow, I got a pretty good response last chapter, and it seems like a lot of people are enjoying this! Which is great. I'm having so much fun writing this. ****I never really noticed how long it takes to get into the plot in the first book. Like Yeesh. But I'm still enjoying it! **

**Note as I have a couple of exams in the next couple weeks, I might not update for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll get a few chapters out during Thanksgiving (which is in October in Canada. Don't ask me why, I don't feel like Googling it). I'll probably post one the day after HOH comes out. Just cause I'll be so excited about it.**

**Im gonna be introducing a bunch of OCs, but most of them are just gonna be a bunch of random names. Nothing super important that you have to keep track of. There are about 100 kids here, so I figured it safe to add names. James is the only OC who is going to make a repeat appearance. **

**I've written for a lot of fandoms, but this has been the only one where my story has gotten more Favorites than Alerts. It's a really strange thing. but remember guys, if you want to get an email when I update, you need to alert me. Otherwise You'll have to go onto the site and physically check when I've updated.**

**Also Guys. HOH in one week. I'm jumping up and down in excitement right now. I feel like the entire fandom is on the edge of their seats, even though we all know that somehow, SOMEHOW, Rick is gonna find a way to give us an even worse Cliffhanger then in MOA. I can still when I was 13 and was patiently waiting for TTC to come out. Gods that seems like forever ago.**

**Review Response:**

**Hunter of Artemis 140: Thank you so much for the review. I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

**ErinTriton: Thank you! I'm not used to writing in First person, so it's definitely a new experience. But I'm enjoying it so far!**

**FandomSailor: Thank you so much. I tried really ahrd to make Jane a good character, because I feel that no matter how good of a plot you have, if your character is weak it can take the whole thing right down.**

**hoho: I'm a huge fan of these kinds of fics too, as long as they're done right. I'm glad you're enjoying my story!**

**So if You have any opinions, questions or concerns please review! I love Reviews, they make my days. Remember to follow if you want to be alerted to updates! **

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


	4. I Have to Climb What, Now?

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.**_

* * *

**Chapter 4: I Have to Climb What, Now?**

* * *

"Nike?" James nodded appreciatively as they walked over to Hermes cabin, "Nice, never seen one of those before."

I slowed in my walking, duffel bag slung over my shoulder. James had offered to carry it, but after remembering what he's said about children of Hermes I'd declined and carried it myself.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, trying to keep the nervous quiver out of my voice. I didn't want any more attention brought to me. Chiron already said that Children of Nike were rare (Just my luck), which severally altered my plans of blending in.

James shook his head with a small shrug, "Not at all. Children of all are welcome. Except Hades, but his children tend to be...unpleasant."

I could tell he wanted to use a more vile word, but had stopped for the sake of polite conversation. I felt curiosity rise to the surface at that. Hades had been one of the few gods the movie had shown in detail. But instead of asking I filed it back into a list of questions that I would ask Grover. Whenever he showed up...

"But never mind that." James waved his hand, and gripped my shoulder, steering me, "Check this out."

"I can walk." I glared, but there wasn't very much menace in it. The kid seemed extremely excited about something so figured I'd humour him.

"Close your eyes." He ordered. I rolled said eyes then closed them, letting him steer me around the huge pavilion. "Okay, open up."

"Woah." My mouth dropped. Out of the twelve cabins only two looked like normal summer camp cabins. The one to my immediate left had a brass '11' in the door, which I guess meant it was Hermes Cabin.

The other cabins weren't nearly as simple. Two of them had huge Ionic Columns in front of the doors and looked more like temples than actual cabins. One looked like an steampunk, Industrial era type factory, and another was made completely out of white and blue marble. Other's weren't nearly as pretty. On the left there was a blood-red building covered in barbed wire, and the ground all around was freshly dug. It made me nervous to think about what was buried around it.

I quickly found Poseidon Cabin, which was on the left like Hermes, but at the other end of the row. It was pretty, but in a much simpler way. The walls were made of a deep blue and grey colour. Fossils were etched into the edge of the shale of species a million years old.

"This way." James guided me towards Hermes Cabin. I tore my eyes away and went back to studying Hermes cabin. It needed a paint job, badly, and several of the windows were smashed in. Standing on the porch was an older camper who looked like he was waiting for us.

I raised an eyebrow in appreciation as we came closer. He shared a resemblance with James, but with blond hair and blue eyes. Not for the first time, I cursed my new age as I studied how his orange T-shirt was just a bit too small and how his hair stuck up in just the right places.

Holy crap. He even had a _scar_. Inwardly I gave this guy a 10/10, then dejectedly dragged my 12-year-old ass over to him with James.

"New kid!" James cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered. I stiffened as faces pecked out of the door and the older kid turned to grin at us. I tried to appear as calm and collected as I could as I came up to the Cabin

"Hello," The older guy gave me an award-winning smile, "I'm Luke, the head counsellor for Hermes Cabin."

I gave him a small smile, trying to quell my inner panic. Luke? Luke as in movie Luke?

I groaned. Why are the evil ones always the hottest?

James pushed me forward and I walked into the Hermes Cabin. I stopped right in the doorway, grabbing onto James to stop myself from tripping over a kid, whose bed was right in front of the door.

In fact there seemed to be very little floor that _wasn't_ covered by kids. I could even see the edge of a sleeping bag underneath one of the more permanent looking Bunk beds.

"Er-Yes." Luke messed up his hair, looking around the cabin, "I'm sure we'll be able to find somewhere for you."

"There's some floor by my cot." James piped up far quicker then I expected. He seemed to realize this and blushed as I looked over at him.

Oh, great. He liked me. Sorry kid, you're only thirteen. Give it a few more years and we'll see. The woes of being a 20-year-old stuck in a 12-year-old body.

"Alright." Luke looked at me, then motioned to the Cabin all of which were giving me curious looks. "Introduce yourself."

"Jane. Jane Braxton." I said shortly.

"Regular or undetermined?" One of the others asked, obviously not a Child of Hermes as he lacked the family resemblance. In fact there were very few kids in here who_ did_ look like children of Hermes.

I paused, my mouth slightly open. I turned to James, not entirely sure what I was supposed to say.

"Determined." James answer for me, "But Minor."

Some people winced. I wondered if that was bad, but instead of angry and unpleasant glares they shot me looks of...sympathy. What was that about?

"Nike." I supplied, knowing that they were probably all curious.

Luke seemed to pip up at that, "Nike? Interesting. We've never had one of those before"

My eyes flickered over to James, "So I've been told."

James grinned, "I've been showing her around. Is your friend here yet?"

It took me a second to realize he was talking to me, "No, No, I'm hoping he'll be here soon though. Maybe tomorrow."

I winced after I said that. Chiron hadn't mentioned anything about Percy to me. Hopefully nobody would question me further on that.

"Friend?" Luke questioned, looking far to curious for his own good.

I paused, wondering if I should tell him. Honestly it would probably be more suspicious if I didn't, "Yeah. Percy. He freaked and Grover went after him."

Luke grinned, "Oh, you're Grover's half-blood. I'd heard they'd given him a second chance."

I frowned. Second _what_ now? Second chance? Like what Grover had said about not wanting something to happen again

"Right." Luke clapped his hands together, looking very chipper, "I'll get her a bag."

And with that he was out the door.

"Alright, this way."

James lead me through the maze that was the scattered beds. I could tell that there was a predetermined path for making your way through and I figured that I'd learn it soon enough. He pointed to a piece of the floor beside an army cot where I quickly dropped my duffel bag, claiming it as my own.

"You'll be here for now." James winced, looking at the floor uncomfortably, "But seeing as you're a permanent you'll be one of the first in line for a cot."

I looked around and saw about eight army cots against the walls.

"Why do I get a cot before all these people?" I asked, looking at the dozens of kids all around.

He looked uncomfortable, scratching his head, "Er- well kids are only permanent if they're a child of Hermes or a Minor god. See the only one's ahead of you are Amy," He pointed to a sixteen year old girl with flaming red hair, "Daughter of Phobos, don't get on her bad side, and Chris." He pointed to another rather dejected looking boy sitting in the corner, "Undetermined."

I looked over to Chris the Undetermined, "But he looks like all the other Hermes kids." I pointed out.

James paused at the, running his tongue over his lips nervously. Then he leaned in and lowered his voice, "Everybody figures he's a son of Hermes, but there's been no claiming."

"You mean the..." I waved my arms over my head and James nodded. "It doesn't always happen."

He shook his head, "Sometimes, like with me, you just know. Hermes told my mum and she told me. But they don't always tell others...like you see Bobby..."

He pointed to a good-looking teenager with blond hair of bright blue eyes chatting animatedly with two twins who were very obviously children of Hermes.

James continued, "We all know he's a Son of Apollo, right. But there hasn't been a claiming yet. Some gods you can tell easier than others. Children of Demeter can control plants right? So once we see them do that we can move them. But others...We need to be sure. Can't risk offending the god, There's only six in here who never got claimed. If your here for more than two years without being claimed they either stay home or stay in Hermes permanently."

I kept that in my mind. Alright: Two...let's call them ranks. Permanent and Temporary. Permanent included Hermes kids, Children of Minor gods and Undetermined here for more than two years. We get the good beds. Temporary get the floor and the hope that they'll be claimed and moved to a different cabin.

I nodded to myself looking around at all the kids on the floor and felt a bit guilty, "If it ever get's busy I apparently have a free place in Athena cabin. Apparently her and Nike we're bros...friends." I continued seeing James's face. I'd have to get used to different slang words.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Luke come back into the cabin with a sleeping bag and a pillow. I nodded at him slightly.

"Nah," James grinned, before leaning down. I jumped back slightly, but then I realized he was trying to whisper. He lowered his voice, "Stelson 5 O'Clock."

I looked at him strangely, before I heard some rustling behind me. I gapped as I saw the same kid from the bus reaching for my bag.

I did the first thing I thought of, and stamped my foot down on his hand, hard.

He yelped, pulling his hand away where he cradled it in his chest. James roared with laughter behind me and I blushed deeply as the entire cabin turned to stare at me.

"Er-Sorry." I looked down, shifted awkwardly.

James was still laughing, but Luke just sighed looking exasperated, "He had it coming. A little reminder." He raised his voice and all the heads turned from me to him, "That we do _not _steal from our own cabin. All other cabins are free game! At your own risk of course!"

There were several 'Whoops' from around the cabin, most notably from two twins in the corner, who then yelled offers to show people where the 'Land Mines' were.

And then the spell was broken, and everybody went back to their business.

"Well that was horrifying." I said bluntly.

"That was brilliant." James offered, still smiling behind his hand.

Luke walked over to me, handing me the bag, "Here you go. Seeing how you handled Stelson, you shouldn't have an issue staying with the rest of them."

I mock saluted him and he chuckled, walking back over to his bunk.

I looked around at all the kids around here. Most of them were much younger than the movie had portrayed. Luke was the oldest at maybe 20, and the youngest was a 7 year old boy.

But they were also much nicer. In the movie many came off as cold and steely, unfriendly. But here it just felt like the summer camps I went to as a kid where you stayed up all night reading horror stories and eating all the candy you'd hid from your counsellor.

The sun was going down and I already felt exhausted. I'd been traveling all day and it was starting to show. I slowly unfurled my sleeping bag and went into it. Luke called lights out, but it was still loud. The accumulation of the whispering of two dozen. But I lived in a dorm, I was used to it.

And with that final thought I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The sun was barely coming over the horizon when I felt somebody nudge at my shoulder.

I waved them away at first, muttering something about a few more minutes. But the nudging just got more insistent.

"Jane." A male voice whispered as they continued.

I frowned, and opened up a single eye. I must've looked a sight, my hair mussed and the running remains and yesterday's makeup going down my face. Above me I could see the blurry outline of head Counselor Luke come into view.

"Luke?" I blinked, trying to push the sleep out of my mind, "Wh-What's up?"

But he didn't reply. His face was solemn.

"What?" I asked, definitely worried now, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Your friend came in last night." He whispered as most of the camper's where still asleep, "He's at the Big House. He's...in a bad way."

Immediately I knew what had happened. The Minotaur.

Well, shit.

Immediately I pushed the sleeping bag back. I had kicked off the jeans I fell asleep in and I should've felt embarrassed by my lack of dress, but my mind was in full-blown panic mode. I grabbed a pair of sweats from my bag, threw them on and ran out the door.

As I ran I could see a couple of earlier risers running laps around the track or on the lake. I got all the way to the Big House in time to see Grover sitting on the porch. His Rasta cap hung from his hands showing his horns.

"Grover." I gasped out, looking at the bloody gash on his forehead, "What happened?"

His bottom lip quivered, "We were attacked."

I sat there and let him get the whole story out. He managed to do it without crying which was an impressive feat for him. I just sat there and tried to be supportive, something that I'm not really the best at.

"Where is he?" I asked him once he finished talking.

Grover looked back to the Big House, "Inside. Chiron woke up one of the Apollo kids to look over him. Exhaustion mostly. Banged his head really good."

"That's it?" I was impressed. Grover looked at me appalled and I quickly back tracked, "Well with no training and facing a monster that's pretty impressive. And it marks his monster tally at two before he's even started."

Grover seemed even more nervous at that, "He's really powerful, isn't he?"

I could tell the question was rhetorical so I didn't answer. Instead I asked another, "How come everybody acts like being powerful is a bad thing?"

Grover winced at that, ringing his rasta cap through his hands, "The more powerful you are the more likely you'll be killed young."

"Oh." I sighed, "Good thing I'm a lowly daughter of Nike then."

"N-Nike?" Grover stuttered, his goat eyes slitting up, "Oh, that can't be good."

"Yeah," I nodded, "Apparently I'm some sort of omen of doom and gloom. I got the spiel from Chiron."

Grover paused like he always did when he was hiding something. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Grover..." I warned.

He coughed, "Sorry, It's nothing."

I kept my eyes narrowed, but dropped it. He was still in shock, and I didn't want to push him. No promises about later though.

Grover put his face into his hands, "Mr.D is going to kill me."

"Really?" I asked in mock surprise, "He seemed like such a teddy bear."

But Grover obviously didn't want to talk about. Instead he pulled a flattened pop can out of his pant pocket and started chewing on it.

"You'll start everything today." He explained, trying to take his mind off Percy, "Breakfast is at 8:30. Then Luke will take you through everything. Asses your abilities and then make you a timetable."

I snorted, "Beginner everything then?"

Grover shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. Apollo's children do expert archery from day one. Children of Athena have an easier time of reading Greek and Children of Ares are natural Swordsmen and women."

I sighed, "But I'm a daughter of _Nike_. I mean, I plan to bet like mad at basketball games cause apparently I'm good at guessing things like that, but otherwise I doubt I'll be very special at anything."

"You're probably right." Grover agreed and I grinned fondly at him.

I patted his back, "You'll be fine Grove. Percy's alive, I'm alive. And there's one dead Minotaur. Sounds like a win to me."

Then I stood up, stretched and walked back to my cabin.

On my way back I passed a girl, probably 11 or 12 with pretty blond hair tied back in an elastic as she ran past me. Her clothes were neat like her hair. I looked down at myself. My clothes were wrinkled and smelt like stink and my own ratty hair was only half in a pony tail.

I wrinkled my nose and wandered back to the cabin, hoping to grab a shower before I wandered to camp.

* * *

It turned out because our cabin was messy and the earlier mentioned twins had played a rather horrible prank on this weeks cabin inspector, we got shower's last. Which meant ice cold water first thing in the morning.

Breakfast was interesting. I had to watch mournfully as the largest bits of bacon were sacrificed to Nike.

The smell afterwards was almost worth it.

Almost.

Sorry Nike.

Chiron introduced me to the whole pavilion which lead to more awkward clapping and nods. A few people seemed interested in my parent and leaned over to get a look at me. I saw one kid at Athena table actually scribble notes in a book as he stared at me, which was a bit strange.

After that Luke brought me around to different things, leaving his Cabin in the semi-capable hands of Travis and Conner Stoll, a.k.a the Twins.

"That's not going to go well is it?" I guessed.

Luke watched the cabin with trepidation, "Not even a little bit."

I wasn't terrible at Ancient Greek which was taught by the same Blond girl I'd seen earlier that morning. I'd learned her name was Annabeth Chase (Yes, the same Annabeth from the movie. Go figure) and, despite being only twelve, was the head counsellor of Athena Cabin.

We hit it off right away. And by that I mean that she seemed dead set on being my friend. I, on the other hand, was a bit wary of her. She had this look in her eyes like she was constantly scheming. It made me nervous, but at the same time she seemed friendly enough. I sat there and half listened as she rambled on about the Temple of Athena Nike, which was apparently by the Parthenon in Athens.

But of course that was in between the side glances at Luke, who was accompanying me to all my classes and writing things down onto a clipboard. Every time he smiled at her, her entire face would flush red. Apparently I wasn't the only one at camp who saw how attractive the son of Hermes was.

Next was archery, which once again I was alright at. Meaning I hit the target 80% of the times, but only the closest ones and never near the middle.

Same with track. I was faster than some kids but slower than others.

In fact, in every single things I went to I rated the same. Average.

There wasn't a single thing I was better at or worse at than everybody else.

The climbing wall had been an adventure that I'm pretty sure Luke was still annoyed at me for.

I looked up at the two giant wall's with horror, "_What_ is that?!"

Luke barely spared it a glance, his arm full of ropes and harnesses, "Climbing wall."

I scoffed, "Um...No, that's not a climbing wall. That's a death trap."

"Don't be so dramatic." He snorted.

"Is the lava necessary?"

He rolled his eyes, "It's not as hard as it looks. Your demigod instincts will kick in, let's harness up."

I opened and closed my mouth, "...I'm sorry?"

"We're climbing it." He said like it was obvious, starting to pull on his harness.

"Um...no I'm not."

"Uh, Yes you are." He mocked my tone.

"I can't."

He looked at me strangely, "Why not?"

I stared back, deadpanned. "I have this condition where I'm_ not suicidal._"

"Look, the lava flow is extremely slow. If you can't outrun that, then there is some question about your skills as a demigod."

I snorted, "Ha! Jokes on you, because there already _is_ some question about my skills as a demigod.'

He blinked, "Just climb the damn rock wall."

"Make me!"

Luke rubbed his head, exasperated, "We need to know your skill level so we know where to put you."

I paused, "Is there a level without the lava."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's essential that you learn this, Jane."

"Really?" I looked at him with a mocking shock, "Climbing the edges of erupting volcanos? Is this a daily thing for you?"

Luke stared at me with a single raised eyebrow.

I climbed the freaking wall.

And once again, average.

Luke seemed to think it had something to do with my mother.

"Think of it like this." Luke said as we walked back to the showers after he finally managed to coerce me to climb down the wall, which was apparently just as important as climbing up, "You're like...a judge. You have to be partial. Average, in the middle. You can't favour one thing over another."

I kind of understood what he was getting at. Didn't mean I had to like it.

But something was bugging me, "A judge? I thought I couldn't decide the end of something. Only maybe predict it."

"It's a literal thing." Luke continued as I fished for information. He may he evil but he knew what he was talking about. Why not take advantage of it while I could? "Once there is a winner, a Child of Nike 'crowns' them, or declares them the champion. Therefore deciding the battle over. I guess perhaps, 'Jury' is more appropriate than 'Judge'."

"What?" I asked, slowing my pace, staring at him confused. What did he mean, 'Crowned the Victor'?

"Didn't Chiron tell you?" Luke looked at me in confusion and I narrowed my eyes at him. Oh please, I knew this trick. I'd seen enough movies. However, I wasn't buying what he was selling.

But I _really _wanted him to continue. It obviously had something to do with whatever Grover was hiding. "Tell me what?" I urged.

He smiled, charmingly, "Children of Nike are born to crown the victor. It's why there's one in every great war. Once you decide the winner, the Battle is over."

"Oh." I squeaked, "No pressure or anything! Hasn't a child of Nike ever been born when there _wasn't_ a battle?"

I sounded extremely hopeful.

"Hmmm." Luke thought about it, "Maybe. I don't know, there were great periods in history where Demigod births weren't documented as well."

I tried to imagine Luke pouring over books in some old musty library as he learnt everything he'd just told me. He didn't seem like the type to do a lot of research, but he was pretty knowledgable about these things, so he must have learnt it somewhere.

I slowed my pace, "But...if my declaring a winner decides the battle, then what's to stop me from just declaring my side a winner."

"Well." Luke chuckled darkly, "That's the thing. Anything can turn the tide of a war. One side could be backed up against a corner and then pull a Hail Mary out of their backside. But say a child of Nike was there when they were still backed against that corner and you declared the other side a winner. It wouldn't matter what they pulled out, the other side would still win."

He sounded a bit to pleased about that for me.

"And that means?" I asked.

His faced darkened for a second, but then brightened agin, "It means I'm sure glad you're on my team for capture the flag."

* * *

**A/N: You know when you put something off for a super long time and you don't really think about it and then suddenly BAM it's right in your face? That's happening to me right now. You see next week is something called midterm week. I did not realize that next week was midterm week and now I'm drowning in work.**

**But I figured I'd get this chapter up, just because I had a break and figured I'd use it. Actually that's a lie. I'm procrastinating. There I said it.**

**The only other problem I have is that I am posting way faster than I am writing. I like to keep a bit of distance between what I write and what I post (as Readers of ATSWNT will know), mostly so that if I make a plot change I have time to add either foreshadowing or even change things before I post it.**

**Also, I felt like mentioning. Yes, I know that the Stoll brother's aren't twins. But Jane doesn't, which Is why I'm referring to them that way. That's a huge mistake I always see with OCs in particular, is having them know things that they haven't actually learnt yet.**

**I'm also really sorry if there's any issues with formatting. If you see any weird line breaks or sentences that are split weird let me know. The editor on this website was possessed or something while i was working on this chapter.**

**A note on reviews:**

**FandomSailor: When I started this story I was super adamant that she wasn't going to be a Daughter of the Big Three. Originally she was just a plain old daughter of Hermes, but then I created the Nike plot. I am super excited for House of Hades. Last year I had to walk through a random early season blizzard to get my copy of MOA. Obviously Boreas was against me...**

**Xieg: Actually I'm a Child of Athena through and through. Blond curly-haired, grey eyed (I'm not even kidding, it's uncanny), plus I'm studying Archaeology, specifically in the area of Greek architecture. Like I said, uncanny. But in Greek Mythology Nike and Athena were always connected, like I said, the Parthenos had a figure of Nike in her in her outstretched hand. Probably because Strategy and Victory go Hand in Hand. Like movie!Annabeth always said, Children of Athena always win.**

**Please Review with any thoughts or concerns. Questions are always welcome! And I will respond to them unless there's spoiler's involved. I might started responding to reviews in PM's only, unless it's an anon.**

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


	5. Second Verse, Same as the First

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson_**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Second Verse, Same as the First**

* * *

It was three days before Percy woke up.

A son of Apollo interrupted me mid release during archery, resulting in my arrow missing my target and almost hitting a stray satyr.

"Sorry!" I called over sheepishly to the half goat who was grumbling as he walked away, "S-Sorry, what?" I turned irritably towards the Son of Apollo.

"Er-" he backed down slightly at my angry look, then cleared his throat, "Chiron sent me to tell you that the new kid, he's awake."

I immediately dropped my bow, running through the archery range while the same son of Apollo yelled 'Cease fire!'. Any other time I would've felt embarrassed by my stupid mistake of running through an archery range, but right now I was completely focussed on getting to the big house.

I ran up the steps of the big house to see Percy sitting back on a chair looking a bit worse for wear. He held a shoe box in his hands which he seemed to clutch like his life depended on it. Grover stood beside him looking like he always looked these days, miserable.

Percy gapped at me, his mouth opening and closing.

"Hello sleeping beauty, someone finally kiss you awake?" I smirked at him.

But he just blinked at me, flabbergasted. "J-Jane?"

"Yes, that would be me." I replied with a chuckled, but the solemn look on Percy's face made my smile drop, "Hey, sorry about your mum Perce."

I hoped neither of them would call on the fact that nobody had actually told me about Percy's mum getting killed by the minotaur. But both of them seemed far to distracted by other things for it to bother them.

"Yeah." Percy mumbled, playing with a shoe box that was in his lap.

"Er-" Grover stepped forward, "Chiron and Mr. D are waiting." He sounded like he was going to throw up.

I snorted, "Good luck with that." I stood up, and looked around, "Well, as much as I'd love to stick around for the orientation film, I have to go back and...apologize to a satyr."

Percy's eyes flickered over to Grover quickly then back to him. I could see uncertainty in his eyes but I didn't comment on it. He'd just woken up to find that greek gods were real, obviously he'd be a bit shaken up.

So without another word, I ran back to the archery range, ready to be chewed out by the Son of Apollo who taught my class.

~8~

* * *

I tugged at my dirty shirt and pondered if I wanted to change. I was dirty and covered ash from the climbing wall. If I put on a new shirt I'd just wind up dirtying it as well. Plus the cabin was full of people, and I still had my modesty. The first time I saw the kids all changing in front of each other I had just blushed and looked down. But I was nowhere near comfortable enough to do that. These kids had been here for way longer than me and were all tanned and toned. My skin was fair and only ever burnt and I had a layer of that child fat that wouldn't vanish for a few years.

James was sitting cross-legged on his army cot, frowning. I tip toes around the different bags until I got over there and Plopped down beside him, bouncing slightly,

"What's shakin'?" I asked.

He shook his head, blinking as he looked at me, "Sorry, just thinking."

"Break anything?" I joked and he shook his head in amusement.

Luke came into the cabin and immediately pulled off his shirt.

I groaned, oh no fair.

But James just frowned, "You think he's cute don't you." I gave him a look and he shifted, "All the girls do."

"Yeah," I didn't deny it, "But that's because none of us are _blind. _But seriously I'm _twelve." _I said it more bitterly then I intended.

But our conversation was quickly interrupted by the door to the cabin opening and two people walked in.

I grinned, Percy was being escorted in by Annabeth, who had seemed more than a little bit occupied with his recovery. I saw her eyes filter over to Luke, who had just pulled on a fresh orange Camp Half Blood T-Shirt. Her entire face turned red, but then she cleared her throat, and turned her attention back to Percy.

"Well." Annabeth nudged him, "Go on."

I watched in thinly veiled amusement as Percy tripped in the doorway, leading a few chuckles. He blushed bright red and continued on his way in, trying not to make eye contact with anybody.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and followed suit, looking to the cabin, "Percy Jackson, meet Cabin Eleven."

"Regular to Undetermined," James called out the same question that I had been asked just a few days before.

Percy looked uncertain but Annabeth answered for him, "Undetermined."

Everybody groaned. I gave Percy an awkward smile which I wasn't sure he saw. In fact I wasn't even sure he'd actually seen me. Or if he had he was ignoring me.

"Now, now campers."Luke stepped forward, a huge grin on his face. Oh why did he have to be so evil? "That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor right over there."

He pointed to a spot right near where his bunk was. I raised an eyebrow at that. Where had that convenient empty spot been a few days ago?

"This is Luke." Annabeth introduced. Her face was red as a tomato and I chuckled. James turned and sent me an 'I-Told-You-so' look to which I stuck out my tongue. "He's your counselor for now." Annabeth finished.

"For now?" Percy asked, looking a bit confused.

"You're undetermined." Luke explained for him, "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."

Percy scanned the room, a bit dubious. I could see him grip his shoebox tighter and once again I wondered what exactly was in there.

"How long will I be here?" He finally asked.

"Good question." Luke chuckled, "Until you're determined."

"How long will that take?"

And even though I thought that that was a very reasonable question, everybody in the cain started to laugh. Even James let out a dark chuckle.

"Come one." Annabeth tugged on Percy's shirt, "I'll show you the volleyball court."

Percy frowned, "I've already seen it."

"_Come on."_

And with that Annabeth dragged him out of the cabin.

James just shook his head, "Seems like an alright guy." He noted.

"He is." I grinned, "Bit on the slow side."

James snorted, "Yes, I could see that." I whacked him arm, "So what are you're plans for the rest of the day."

"Done. Might try to get a shower in but who knows. Probably going to try to find Percy later." I sighed, thinking that a shower would be a great idea.

"Well he'll come back here eventually." James pointed out.

"Yeah well." I couldn't help but feel like Percy was upset with me for something and I wanted to find out what before I made it worse. I gave James a non-committal nod stood up, grabbing a towel and some shampoo that James had stolen for me. "I'll see you later."

James gave me a tight smile that didn't quiet reach his eyes, "Sure, I er- I have some things I have to get done."

I looked at him strangely for a few seconds, wondering what he could have to do since all the classes were done for the day. But Instead of questioning him I just nodded and turned

And with that I headed out the door.

* * *

I trudged up towards the showers only to notice a rather large daughter of Ares walking up to Percy and Annabeth who were having a rather intense conversation.

"Well!" The Daughter of Ares sneered, staring at the two who both whipped their heads over to her. I felt a pull in stomach and my legs started to move of their own accord until I was standing only a few feet behind Clarisse.

"Clarisse." Annabeth half groaned, "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

Clarisse glared, "Sure, Miss Princess. So I can run you through with it Friday night."

Friday? I furrowed my eyebrows trying to think about what was happening that day.

Oh right. Capture the flag.

"_Erre as Korakas!" _Annabeth spat. I raised an eyebrow at that. Not really her best line, but maybe it was more offensive then I thought, "You don't stand a chance."

And with that her eyes peeked over to me. I suddenly felt a huge pressure on my head. I really hoped they didn't expect to win only because they had me on their team, because they would be very disappointed. I planned on finding a nice bush or a rather large boulder to hide behind until the whole thing was done.

"We'll pulverize you!" Clarisse snarled, but her eye twitched. She turned towards Percy, "Who's this little runt."

Annabeth hesitated slightly then sighed, "Percy Jackson, meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."

Percy blinked at her rapidly, "Like...the war god?"

"You got a problem with that?" Clarisse narrowed her eyes threateningly.

Percy quickly shook his head, "No...it just explains the smell."

Oh, bad move. Today was not the day to become the sass master.

Clarisse growled, "We got an initiation for Newbies, _Prissy_."

"Percy."

"Whatever." Her sneer twisted into a grin, "Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse..." Annabeth warned.

"Stay out of it, Wise girl!" Clarisse snapped.

I bit my lip nervously. I wanted to help, but I had no business. Clarisse hadn't bothered me since I got here. Probably because unlike Percy I had been smart enough to keep my head down and keep my insults to myself. But Percy didn't have a vocal filter, and I wasn't surprised that something like this had happened.

I also knew that Percy would want to either win this fight, or lose it, by himself.

Percy slowly handed Annabeth the shoebox and then turned to Clarisse. Getting ready to fight.

Before I could blink Clarisse had her arm wrapped around Percy's neck and was dragging him towards the bathroom. His arms failed cartoonishly and her friends laughed as they followed behind.

Annabeth stared after them with annoyance, not at Clarisse, but at Percy's inability to defend himself. I wanted to yell at her to give him a break, but she had been on of the only people her to give me the time of day besides James, and I didn't want to risk it.

"I got 10 bucks on Percy." I let out without thinking. I don't know why I said that but I had a sudden burst of confidence for one of my best friends. It was very similar to the feeling I'd gotten from Chiron's card game. Like I just _knew _that Percy would win this.

...Somehow.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "I may not like Clarisse, but Jackson has nothing on her. Deal."

Then we ran towards the bathroom.

One of the stalls had been kicked open and Clarisse had Percy inside. My confidence faded slightly, but didn't disappear completely. Her two friends were standing behind her, trying to get a good look.

Annabeth cringed and covered her eyes but I just watched. Come on, Percy. Maybe I should've felt bad for betting on one of my friends. I'm sure if the roles had been reversed Percy would've gone head first into the three children of Ares trying to defend me. But I wasn't that brave.

Or that stupid.

Clarisse entourage were all laughing as Clarisse tried to push Percy toward the toilet.

I heard a soft rattling and frowned, looking around for the source. My gaze wandered over to Annabeth, who was studying me. Obviously she'd heard it as well.

Then, in a strange sort of unison you only see in movies we both came to the same conclusion, and slowly we looked upwards. Above up, the pale yellow painted pipes that ran along the ceiling were shaking slightly. I felt a smirked cross my face as the strange gut feeling returned.

Water.

Oh boy.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material." Clarisse laughed, not hearing the pipes creaking and shuddering, "Yeah right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."

A few of the toilets started to shake and I took a step back. This was getting pretty intense. Behind me all the taps turned on and i jumped back. Annabeth was looking around, a wild look of shock on her face. I wondered if in that moment she had figured it out. Came to conclusion that Percy was a son of Poseidon.

But I never got the chance to find out.

Because at that second Clarisse flew out of the bathroom stall.

A jet of water forced her out of the stall, her two friends, jumping back as their leader got plummeted with water.

Then one after the other the toilets exploded. I let out a startled yelp as the one beside me sent out a burst of water drenching me head to toe. It wasn't strong enough to send me flying out of the bathroom like it did to Clarisse and her friends, but I did not appreciate it.

The showers all turned on, the heads twirling in every direction, drenching Annabeth who stood rigid and waiting for it all to stop.

And then it did.

My hair clung to my face. I peered open one eye and pushed my hair away. The entire bathroom was soaking wet. Every single inch was covered in water.

Except for the exactly spot where Percy stood.

"Oh, well." I waved my hand at him, "Now that's just not fair."

"How - How did you?" Annabeth stared at him, her mouth opening and closing. I could see the gears in her head turning, desperately trying to come to a conclusion.

Percy looked around in shock, "I don't know." He replied honestly.

"It's like..." I started but then paused. They both turned to look at me and I swallowed, "Remember at the museum? Nancy said you pushed her into the water but you didn't even touch her. It...grabbed her...like that."

"Huh." Percy replied, looking around in shock.

Groaning from outside the bathroom drew our attention. Running out we saw Clarisse and her friends sitting in the dirt, which the huge surge of water had turned into mud.

Like me her hair had flattened across her face, which made her slightly more menacing as she glared at Percy, "You are dead, new boy. You are totally _dead_!"

"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse?" Percy sassed, "Close your mouth."

"Sorry Clarisse." I laughed, "He got you fair and square."

She was about to lunge forward but my words stopped her. Instead she calmly stood up, straightened her face to maintain any sort of dignity and walked away.

I watched her retreat in interest. The second I had said Percy won Clarisse had lost all resolve. She simply walked away. I thought back to what Luke had told me a few days ago. I had been trying not to think about it, debating if he'd be lying or trying to manipulate me.

But I guess not. Clarisse had just...given up. Not something I'd think children of Ares did lightly.

I grinned turning towards an equally dripping wet Annabeth, "That was ten, right?"

Her eyes narrowed in a glare towards me and with a final huff, she reached into her pocket and placed a dripping wet American ten dollar bill in my hand.

* * *

I went back to the bathroom afterwards to shower the toilet water out of my hair. Clothes and all I got out of the shower and walked back to Hermes cabin, dripping wet, to grab a change of clothes.

Apparently people already heard word of the bathroom incident and when I got back to Hermes cabin people were staring and pointing. I rolled my eyes and walked over to my sleeping bag.

I opened up my duffel and grabbed new clothes, James staring at me from his spot on his army cot, shaking his head, "Can't leave you alone for more than 5 minutes, can I?"

"Hey!" I laughed, straightening up, "Don't look at me. I got ten bucks out of it."

But James just shook his head, then pointed over to the other side of the cabin, "You're friend is back."

I looked over and saw Luke sit down beside Percy and swallowed. What were they talking about? Quickly I changed out of my wet clothes, putting on dry ones and walked over to sit beside Percy, all the while trying not to look like I was hurrying.

I dropped down beside Percy, watching as Luke dug dirt out of his shoes with a flip-blade, "Hey."

"Hey." He replied, then fidgeted, "So, Jane. You're a...demigod as well?"

I nodded, "Apparently."

He paused, "Are you a Hermes kid, or undetermined." I could tell he wanted to add 'Like me' at the end of his sentence.

"I'm..." I paused wondering how to word it, "My mum is Nike, right? Minor God, so I don't get my own cabin."

Percy nodded in understanding and then looked down.

I felt guilty for a moment and cleared my throat, "I er- I only found out a few days ago really." I fidgeted, "I wasn't, keeping it a secret or anything"

Percy cheered up slightly at that and I grinned, glad that he wasn't mad at me.

I dared to continue, "Don't know where you're gonna sit at dinner though, I took the last spot."

He chuckled at that, obviously much calmer then he had been earlier. Then after he second he turned to Luke, "Clarisse, earlier, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth...twice, she said I might be 'the one'. She said I should talk to the oracle. What was that about?"

I learned forward, immediately curious.

Luke winced, folding his knife and putting it away, "I hate prophecies."

I exchanged a strange look with Percy and then looked back at Luke. "What do you mean?"

I also had a weird feeling in my stomach. The movie never made any mention of prophecies.

Luke's whole face twitched as he looked up, "Let's just say I missed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until...somebody special came to camp."

I scrounged up my nose. I had a very serious feeling that Annabeth wouldn't want Luke telling us about this. It seemed kind of private.

But seeing as Percy had no emotional tact he just asked, "Someone special?"

Luke grinned "Don't worry about it kid, Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now come on, it's dinnertime."

The second he said that the horn for dinner blared.

"Eleven fall in." Luke called out.

* * *

We all filed into the common yard since there was way to many people to line up inside. We lined up according to seniority and I was pleased to find that I was no longer last in the line.

I thought it was cute how Percy watched everything as we walk, gasping in shock as the Nymphs melted from the trees (which honestly still freaked me out) and the Pegasus (which we're just amazing).

I probably looked the same way a few days ago. But now It all seemed mostly normal. Well...I was used to it. I wasn't about to have a panic attack which was always a good sign. But it was nice no longer being 'the new kid', even if I had only arrived few days before Percy. I had been here three days longer, and it was three days I was going to lord over him for the rest of his life.

Or until I went home, that is.

We reached the pavilion and settled down. Half of Percy's ass was hanging off the bench which I found great amusement in.

I played with the white tablecloth absent-mindedly, waiting for the food to appear. Percy looked around, studying the different campers. I noticed his eyes linger on the Athena table for a few more seconds then the others.

The pounding of a hoof brought my attention back to the present and everybody turned to Chiron. He raised a glass filled with water into the air, "To the gods."

I raised my glass filled with Dr. Pepper and echoed him, as did everybody. Percy just looked into his own glass curiously.

"Speak to it," Luke whispered, "Whatever you want - nonalcoholic, of course."

Percy paused, "Cherry Coke?" He asked.

Immediately the glass filled with the same colour liquid as mine.

He frowned at it then grinned, "_Blue _Cherry coke." I blinked in amusement as it turned a very vibrant shade of blue.

Percy cautiously lifted the drink to his lips and drank softly.

The nymphs brought by the food, brisket and various vegetables and sweet fruits. I grabbed a bowl of potatoes eagerly and spooned some of it onto my plate before handing it off to James.

I grabbed the brisket from Luke on my right and dished some onto my plate, before handing it off to Percy who was looking at all the food in shock.

Then I grabbed my ful plate and stood up, grabbing Percy by the back of his shirt before he took a huge bite into his plate. I pulled him over to the line for the fire.

Percy peered his head over the line watching as people sacrificed perfectly good food for the gods.

"Burnt offerings." Luke explained for Percy's benefit, "For the gods. They like the smell."

"You're kidding?"

Luke gave Percy a warning look and he dropped it. I walked up to the Fire and dropped in the largest bundle of grapes whispering, "Nike" and then walking away.

After we finished eating our food Chiron stamped his hoof and everybody fell silent.

Mr. D looked up at the centaur and then rolled his eyes, pulling himself to his feet, "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin Five presently holds the laurels."

Clarisse and her entire cabin started to holler and cheer.

"Personally." Mr. D said loudly over the cheering, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today, Peter Johnson."

I snorted at that. He'd done the same for me and some of the campers honestly still thought my name was Jean Brighten.

Chiron murmured something under his hand and Mr. D sighed.

"Er- Percy Jackson." He corrected reluctantly, "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

I hated campfire. I rolled my eyes and trudged alongside the rest of my cabin to join the rest. I sat down on a log and listened to the horrible off-key singing. The entire Hermes cabin would try as hard as possible to crack their voices, which wasn't hard considering that most of them were going through puberty. But it was entertaining.

But after the minimum time socially required, and when my head started to hurt from the singing and the bright fire, I grabbed my jacket and said goodbye to Percy and James, before heading back to Hermes Cabin.

I changed, relishing in the privacy. Then settled into my sleeping bag and pulled it over my head, letting the darkness claim me.

It didn't take very long before I drifted to sleep.

* * *

I woke up cold. Or at least, I thought I did. I mean, I figured out it was a dream pretty soon after I woke up.

"Ooookay." I drawled, looking around the chamber, "This is...new."

It was a temple, that was for sure. The black doric marble columns and marble floor made sure of that. I turned around and saw two huge double doors which looked to also be made of marble. I imaged it must take a giant to open them

Or a god.

Along the walls, bronze bowls held flames that flicked and cast shadows all around the room. The light from the fire also reflected off the metal, giving a strange glow to the room.

Everything was black and bronze.

I looked up at the altar, expecting to see some sort of statue like you usually see in these kinds of places, but instead there stood a women. Tall, seven feet at least which made by barely 5 foot frame look even smaller.

"Um...hello?" I called up to the women who was turned away from me. The shadows cast from the bronze bowls clung to her back, thick and falling to the floor where they pooled like a giant cloth.

No, like _wings._

When there was no response from the woman I took a tentative step forward, "Er-I'm sorry, but where am I?"

"Come"

I paused. The woman's voice was cold and steady. I felt a sharp sting of fear in my chest and I swallowed. I wanted to turn and run away but something told me that bad things would happen if I did.

So very slowly I walked up towards the altar until I was at the bottom of a small flight of stairs, looking up at this Amazon of a woman.

For a few moments neither of us said anything. Then the women turned, the wings wrapping around her slightly. A greek sleeveless chiton of white was wrapped around her body with a black slash. Another piece of white fabric curled around her pale arms where it melded into the shadows that made her wings.

Her eyes were the scariest part of her. Almost entirely black, but still kind of warm. I had no doubt that they turned piercing whenever she was upset. They were...

They were just like mine.

I pushed that thought away, trying not to get my hopes up.

The women walked down a step, her entire body shrinking until it was just half a foot taller than me.

"Jane Braxton." She said, not asking my name just sort of, announcing it. "Not one of my more powerful children, but not completely useless."

I wrinkled my nose. Thanks.

But then it hit me.

_Children?_

My mouth dropped open and I stared at her. Besides the eyes we didn't look anything alike. She was tall and slender. Her black hair was pin straight fall down and melting into the shadows around her. Her face was square and angular, with a sharp jaw line and high cheekbones.

I on the other hand was short, curvy and oval faced. My hair was light, but couldn't decide if it wanted to be blond or brown, so sat somewhere in between, falling in limp waves at my shoulder. I wasn't large, but I had far too much baby-fat to be called anything except for 'cute'.

Nike twirled and the air around her moved with her. The shadow wings brushed against my arms giving me a horrible cold shiver through my entire body.

"Jane." Her voice demanded attention. "You are fairing well so far. Some of my children find the exchange...difficult."

"Exchange." I repeated, "You mean how I woke up in a book?"

A flicker of amusement crossed her face. "Yes. I had hoped that you would prepare yourself."

I tried to ignore the annoyance that bubbled up inside of me. She never _told _me to read the books, so she couldn't be mad that I didn't.

I decided to change the subject, "I have questions."

"I know."

I ignored the condescending nature that I felt was associated with all the gods and continued, "Um...I'm in a _book_!"

She tilted her head, looking amused, "Yes it must appear that way. My children can be dangerous if to powerful, altering historical events in ways they aren't meant to. So to keep you and other's safe I take you away. Somewhere you'll be safe and...loved."

"Yes, I got that." I tried to ignore the strange warm feelings that came up inside me at that, "But how am I _needed_. There isn't going to be a war. Percy finds the lightning bolt and brings it home."

Nike sighed and looked towards the floor, "I'm afraid, my daughter, that things are never that simple."

I waited for her to shed some more light but she fell silent.

I asked another question, "How." I swallowed, "How long do I have to stay here?"

Nike furrowed her eyebrows, "You do not understand, Jane. I have brought you back into the world."

I laughed, "But can I go back to mine?"

"Child." She cupped by cheek with one of her ice cold hands, "That worlds was a creation. A fabrication. It was not real."

Not real? I watched her with blank eyes, not entirely sure what she was telling me.

"But..." I shook my head, "My mum and dad, my friends..."

"Creations of the mind." Nike answered calmly, like she hadn't just shattered my concept of reality.

I felt chest tighten and I could feel an overwhelming sense of denial and helplessness come over me.

"So, so you-you just..." I took a deep breath, trying to make sure my voice would stay steady, "You created a whole world for me, so I would be _loved. _And then you just, ripped it away?" I shook my head in confused anger, "How...how could you?"

"You we're needed." Nike explained calmly, as if my anger was normal. Which it probably was.

"Needed." I repeated, "I'm _nothing_! I can barely hold a sword without almost killing myself how on earth could I be needed!"

"You will know." Nike smiled at me softly but with the sternness of a parent, "When the time comes."

"Oh that is _textbook _enigmatic." I rolled my eyes, "Can't you just tell me without being cryptic? Or do you like to see me squirm?"

Her eyes glittered and she smirked at me, which gave me every answer i needed to know.

"Wake."

"I just fell asleep."

"Wake now." Nike ordered, "Enjoy yourself, as life will soon begin."

I glared at her as my surroundings started to shift, "Okay, now you're just being difficult!"

And then I woke up.

* * *

**A/N: Well there's Nike for you. I don't think Riordan's done Nike yet, but he mentioned her in House of Hades, which I will talk about below in the Spoiler's area. I really wanted to have a different sort of relationship with Jane and Nike, but with all the same elements. Jane didn't have an absent parent. As far as she was concerned, she had two parents. There's a backstory there which I'm sure I'll get into later.**

**But because of this she wouldn't have the same kind of resentment that others would have. She was claimed right away after all. But I wanted some tension between them.**

**I know a lot of this chapter was just following the book, but it needed to happen. I wanted to show a bit more of Jane's ability in action.**

**Next chapter! Jane's first sword lesson and capture the flag!**

**Now...**

**MY THOUGHTS ON HOUSE OF HADES**

**HERE BE SPOILERS SUPER SPOILERS DON'T READ ANYMORE BECAUSE THERE ARE HUGE SPOILERS LIKE WOAH**

**SPOILERS**

**So never have I ever faltered in my Percabeth feels. I never felt right shipping either of them with anybody else with each other.**

**...until now...**

**Like, my feels are on overdrive. I didn't think that Rick could make the ending of MOA ever MORE heartbreaking. But he managed. I have never loved Nico more than I did at the end of this book. And I think he's suddenly become the most relatable character in the book. Everybody knows what it's like to like someone who doesn't know you exists, and it must suck even more that nobody even considered the idea that he might like Percy (except us fangirls. I'm sure we all considered it). It makes me wonder if he has a 1930s mentality or not about this. Like, I know he was raised in the 1930s, and homosexuality would not have been viewed well then, and that makes me even sadder because if he thinks that way as well, then not only does his heart-break because Percy doesn't love him back, but then he hates himself for even liking Percy in the first place. And maybe that's where his so-called 'crush on Annabeth' came from. Like maybe he tried to make himself have a crush on somebody else, because he perceived his feelings for Percy as 'Wrong'. Either way I will never be able to reread TTC, BOTL, or TLO without bursting into feels for Nico. Like in TLO when he thinks Percy doesn't trust him anymore, oh gods he must've been heartbroken.**

**I'm sorry...I got a bit carried away.**

**Besides that:**

**Leo and Calypso. Holy crap. You know I never really liked Calypso much in BOTL. Not Because she came in-between Percy and Annabeth, but just because she felt like a filler character. You probably could have taken her out of the story completely and it wouldn't have impacted it at all. But Now I love her. My theory which Im sure a lot of you have guessed, is that the raft only appeared when SHE wanted to leave the island. Not Leo.**

**Gah, they're so cute!**

**Also there is some serious Bromance going on in this series. My newest fav was Jason and Nico. I never saw it coming. Also when Frank said he plays mythomagic. Not 'played' but 'plays'. I died a little bit, cause Nico stopped being kid!Nico when he stopped playing that game, and here was an older kid saying that he played it as well.**

**They made a lot of Luke and Kronos references in this book. Foreshadowing? Or not? Who knows? I really thought Kronos was going to make some sort of appearance in this book, mostly because we never found out what happened to him. Well there is still one more book, and the title does not bode well.**

**"The Blood of Olympus"**

**yikes.**

**I have so many things to saw about this book. Oh gods. I don't think any of you are still suffering through this, but if you are, bless you.**

**I felt like all the characters also grew in their own ways. Percy learned that sometimes you have to sit back and let someone else be the hero. Annabeth learned when to admit defeat and run away. Jason finally picked Greeks over Romans, and Reyna finally abandoned Octavian. Rachel shoved one up Octavian's ass as well which was awesome. Piper decided she was gonna be a badass, Hazel learnt that she could use magic, and Leo has gotten over being the seventh wheel. We also got to see more of Franks Mars side, rather then his poseidon side.**

**Also Couch Hedge is gonna have a baby! Yay!**

**Omg this is too much. I apologize...**

**SPOILERS OVER SPOILERS OVER SPOILERS OVER.**

**Okay guys! You know the drill. Review with question, concerns, and tell me your thoughts about House of Hades.**

**I have a drawing of Nike on my deviant art and I'll have the link in my profile right beside the link for my character drawing of Jane.**

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


	6. In Which I Manage Not To Kill Myself

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: In Which I Managed Not to Kill Myself**

* * *

Nothing happened for the next week.

I went to lessons everyday. They were slightly better now that Percy was in most of my classes, well at least for the first couple days, until he was moved into the levels that suited him

He was better than me at most everything, Javelin, wall climbing, canoeing (obviously), wrestling.

But there were still a handful of things which I was better at. Archery, for one, Percy was _terrible _at. And I don't mean not as good as me, I meant just...awful. After a while I just sat back and watched as the arrows went everywhere. I swear one went backwards and wound up in the bush.

"Give it up, Perce. It's a lost cause." I laughed after he got an arrow snagged in Chiron's tail.

I was better at track, running away from things was my speciality. It wasn't much, but it was a big enough ego boost that I could stand being around him.

I could tell Percy was getting frustrated by the amount of attention he was receiving. Every single counselor, teacher and senior camper were trying to figure out who his parent was. Which confused me because it seemed fairly obvious to me. I mean, freaky water powers, Fantastic canoeing abilities...

But it seemed like nobody _wanted_ to see it.

But later that week, on thursday, they finally held my first sword lesson.

Well to be fair, I'd held swords before, I wasn't lying to my mother completely. Luke had taken me to the armoury to find me a weapon.

After going through two dozen swords, spears, daggers, and maces Luke had decided on a short sword. It was heavy, but no wear near as heavy as the normal swords. In fact the sword that Luke picked out for me was little bigger then most of the daggers.

"Usually you use two of them." Luke said, before giving me a soft grin, "But with your height, you should probably only use the one."

And after getting it resized by the Hephaestus kids, I had my new sword.

I pulled it out of its scabbard and studied it. It was _my _sword now, glistening bronze. I bought some sword polish with money I had made during various bets and used it too cleaned and shined the dust away.

Luke had also encouraged me to practice my archery as a secondary form of fighting.

"Not very many people besides children of Apollo pursue archery, but it can be great in long distance combat." He assured me. I nodded and started practicing harder.

Advice from my enemy is still advice. I didn't have to be a daughter of Athena to know that to not take it would be unwise.

That and, as it turned out, I was lousy with a sword.

Luke had waited until Percy was ready for us to begin. He said he wanted to see our fighting style together, teach us together. He said that since we we're friends we might have fighting styles that complimented each other.

But he couldn't have been more wrong.

If anything, our styles were too similar.

Of course Percy was a thousand times better at handling his sword then I was, and seeing as his was unbalanced that was saying something.

I, on the other hand, almost cut my thumb off in the first five minutes.

But after I got used to holding my sword and some basic moves I found I wasn't _that _bad. I had good instincts that came with my overactive mind, but I had a hard time with speed and footwork.

"Don't worry," Luke assured me after I tripped over myself for the third time, "It comes with practice. You'll get better as you get stronger as well."

But as soon as me and Percy were put together, we completely fell apart.

"Alright!" Luke announced to the group, "I'm going to pair you up into two's." He grinned, "I want you to learn to fight with another person, as a team."

I was paired up with Percy, as we were both newbies. And we were teamed against two sons of Hermes. Apparently sword fighting wasn't exactly their strong suit either so it would be, more or less, an even fight.

And it just went down hill from there.

It was just a huge mess. Both of use went after the same guy, lunched the same way, dodged in the same direction. Two minutes in and we'd tripped over each other half a dozen times.

So of course in the end we got our asses kicked.

"Interesting." Luke raised an eyebrow after watching the battle, "You know I'd love to see you and Percy battle _each other _one day."

And with that he walked away leaving me to decipher the meaning of that statement.

"Well that sucked." Percy grumbled, sitting beside me.

I nodded, "Total crap."

We exchanged looks and started to laugh.

Next Luke decided to teach one on one. And for that he picked Percy as his partner. I partnered up with James

"Good luck!" James warned Percy, "Luke's the bets swordsman in the last three hundred years."

I raised an eyebrow at that. That was something I hadn't known.

But my confidence for Percy still didn't waver and I smiled reassuringly at him.

Percy shrugged, "Maybe he'll go easy on me?"

James snorted and leaned back crossing his arms. Percy walked back to over to Luke a bit more nervous than before.

"You should have more faith." I rolled my eyes at him, but James just laughed.

"Luke does this to all new campers, and he's never easy on any of them."

I eyed him, "I never said anything about Luke 'Going easy'."

"What?" James leaned forward again, "You think Percy's going to beat Luke first try?"

I nodded and turned back to the fighting. I could feel the confidence in me grow. Percy would win. Just wait and see.

* * *

Well, Percy got the crap beaten out of him. I did as well but James was going easy on me, I could tell.

"I could've sworn..." I frowned, watching Percy get whapped to the ground again. The feeling of confidence was still there. Like I was certain that Percy would win.

But he just got flattened again.

I had my own share of cuts and bruises, but to be fair most of them we're from my own sword, not James's. Four times he had to correct my grip and my footing.

"You'll get there." He muttered as he moved my hands into position once more.

I tightened my hands, "It feels weird to hold it like this."

"You'll get used to it." He promised, "And you're less likely to lose your grip and your sword like this."

He was right, but my hand wasn't used to holding things in that manner and I dropped my sword once or twice due to my whole hand cramping up.

"Son of a bitch." I hissed, shaking my hand out.

"Oi!" James snapped, "Language."

I clutched my hand between my knees, "Yes, mother."

He laughed and picked up my sword, handing it to me.

"Alright!" Luke called, "Break time."

I sighed in relief and hobbled over to the water cooler to grab a cup. Luke grabbed his cup and poured it over his head which made several passing Nymphs giggled and run into the forest.

Percy stared at his own cup and shrugged, doing the same.

My confidence surged and I grinned. Maybe my instincts hadn't been so wrong at all. I pitied the person who had to fight Percy next

"Okay, everybody." Luke ordered, "Circle up, If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

I could see Percy's face twinge into annoyance, showing that he probably _did_ mind. But instead of arguing he just walked over to Luke, sword in hand.

"I'm going to show you a new disarming technique." Luke announced, holding his own sword outwards, "You use the flat of your own sword." He showed blade, "And twist it against the base of your enemies blade. Forces it out of their hand. This is difficult. I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

Then he shows us how. Pushing his blade against Percy's and twisting. Sure enough Percy was forced to let go of his sword.

"Now in real time." Luke continued after Percy grabbed his weapon, "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off." By 'one of us' I was pretty sure he meant 'I', "Ready, Percy?"

Percy nodded and Luke attacked.

My confidence surged back to life when Percy parried and then immediately twisted to dodge Luke's second blow. He brought his sword back up, catching it just in time as Luke attacked his undefended side.

I could see the campers leaning forward, curious, as they continued.

Percy added a thrust of his own, which Luke easily countered, but I could tell that he was seeing the fight in a whole different way. He pressed Percy harder, and with more force.

And that was Percy's downfall. I could see the blade slipping and his feet sliding.

'_Come on_,' I mouthed, '_pull the move.'_

And Percy did. He pushed the flat of his blade down Luke's and twisted, pushing his entire body into disarming the larger man.

I watched with huge satisfaction as Luke's sword fell to the ground. I could feel the eyes of every single person in the fighting arena watch his sword until it settled.

Everybody was silent. I watched as Percy looked between his sword and the one on the ground as if even he couldn't believe what had just happened. I gave him a huge smile.

Percy lowered his sword from Luke's chest, "Um, sorry."

But Luke seemed to stunned to speak, but then his face broke out into a grin, "Sorry? By the _gods_, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

Percy readied himself, but the second Luke's sword made contact Percy's sword went flying.

Everybody stared at the pair, not sure what to make of it until finally one of the twins, Travis, speculated, "Beginner's luck?"

Luke studied Percy intently, nodding absentmindedly, "maybe...but I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword."

* * *

After I finished my classes on friday I started searching the camp for Percy. He'd had climbing wall when I'd been taking archery and I couldn't find him anywhere. Usually he'd just return to the cabin afterwards.

But he wasn't anywhere to be found. After a few minutes I gave up and was about to go back to the cabin, when I caught something out of the corner of my eyes.

It was Luke. He was off near the edge of the woods, looking sufficiently creepy, but that wasn't what caught my eyes.

James was with him.

I furrowed my eyebrows, leaning up against one up the cabins, out of sight. I could hear my heart beating in my ears as I tried to listen to what they were saying. They were arguing. James seemed especially aggravated by something, but I couldn't tell.

I felt my heart sink. Was it possible that Luke wasn't the only one in on the theft? Could there have been other half-bloods were had risen up against the gods as well.

But as I thought about that I felt sick to my stomach. No, James wasn't a traitor. He was my friend. I refused to believe that he would have taken the time to become my friend if he was going to betray me.

_What if he's just using you?_ Another part of me asked.

To do what? I'm useless!

_To get to Percy..._

I paused, then shook my head. It couldn't be. Luke had Percy wrapped around his pinky finger. He looked up to Luke, hero worshiped him almost as much as Annabeth did. No, he didn't need me to get closer to Percy.

I was just being stupid. Besides, Luke's was a one manned operation against the Gods. A revenge kick, right?

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as the conch shell rang throughout the valley. Dinnertime. And then capture the flag.

I was not looking forward to it.

* * *

After dinner was when it began. Luke had suggested I bring my sword with me, which I thought was strange, but I noticed a lot of other people arming themselves before dinner with their own personal weapons.

I had my own sword, but that was it. Luke said he'd help me and Percy with armor when we got there, which I was thankful for.

When we finished eating, the conch shell blew and The Athena Cabin burst into the pavilion, holding up a huge grey silk banner above their heads. On it was the painting of an owl over an olive tree.

On the other side of the Pavilion, Ares Cabin burst in, a blood read banner with a bloody spear and boars head.

"Are those the flags?" I heard Percy yell to Luke over the sound of the Cabins cheering.

"Yeah." Luke Yelled back.

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?" Percy asked.

"Not always, but often!"

"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do - repaint the flag?"

Luke just grinned at him, "You'll see. First we have to get one."

Looking around the Pavilion, I couldn't see how we couldn't get it. We were the largest cabin by far. The only one with numbers to match our own was Apollo (who apparently was a _very _busy god.)

"Whose side are we on?" Percy asked, looking distastefully towards the Ares cabin as if praying it wasn't them.

Luke smirked to himself, like he was sharing a joke with himself. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you two are going to help."

He wrapped his arms around the two of us and I looked up at him, trying to smile. I probably just looked sick.

Chiron announced the Teams. Athena, Apollo and Hermes, against everybody else. Mind you, when I looked at it it was still equal footing. Plus the Apollo kids were fantastic archers, so I still had hope.

Chiron stamped his hoof, which quieted everybody as they turned to look at him.

"Heroes!" He called out to the group of children in front of him, "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

I wondered to myself why we would need a battlefield medic if there was no maiming allowed, but my own question was answered as the table in front of me was suddenly covered in equipment.

"Yowzah." I gapped at the different weapons.

"Whoa." Percy looked a bit nervous, "We're really supposed to use these?"

Luke looked at him like he was insane, "Unless you want to get skewered by your friend in Cabin 5. Here - Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol." He handed Percy a huge shield, which the poor kid could barely keep up. And then a horsehair plume helmet, which fell over his eyes.

All in all adorable, but probably enough to save his life.

Luke turned to me, handing me an archers bow, "Here. You're on ambush duty."

I took the bow with a frown, "Ambush duty?"

"Easy." He shrugged, "Climb up in a tree near the creek and shoot anyone who gets to close."

"Um..." I frowned, looking down at the bow, "Doesn't that go against the whole...no maiming thing?"

"Don't worry." He assured me, taking out an arrow. The end was a rubber blunt, "Enchanted you see? Not enough forced to pierce skin, but it'll hurt like hell. Aim for the kneecaps."

I nodded, even though I knew I was nowhere near good enough at archery to hit a kneecap from a tree.

He also fitted me with a sort of leather chest piece with elbow and knee pads, which I was thankful for.

Finally he handed me a blue bandana, "The helmet is a bit conspicuous from the treetops." He winked.

I wrapped it around my arm and we were off, heading towards the woods.

Percy ran up to talk with Annabeth, which I thought was adorable. I stayed back with the Apollo kids, one of which had been assigned to 'teach me the ropes'.

He pulled me deep into the woods away from the other kids until we reached a tree that he claimed was sturdy enough.

"Is this the part were you kill me because nobody can hear me scream?" I whisper as scanned the woods. Nobody was in sight.

He chuckled though, "Not this time Braxton. Alright, I'll give you a boost. See that branch there. It's hidden and sturdy. Get to that one."

Lucky for me I wasn't afraid of heights, so I had no troubles, getting up to the branch. However, balancing on it when I got there was a problem.

"Don't worry," The Apollo kid assured me, "We're not that high. If You fall, you won't be _that _badly injured."

"Thanks." I grunted back at him. Learning how to fall large distances and not hurt yourself was something I was supposed to learn next week. But that didn't exactly help me this week.

I heard the conch shell blow in the dispense, and the game begun.

For the first 20 minutes we sat there in total silence, waiting for anybody to come into our territory. My legs started to cramp, and every time I shifted it shook the whole tree and the Apollo kid would shoot me a dirty look.

Finally I saw two kids coming closer. It was the Dionysus kids, twins whose names I don't know.

The Apollo kid gave me a look and then nudged to the intruders.

I sent him a look which clearly said, 'Don't judge my poor archery abilities', and notched one of the arrows. I pulled the string back against my face and aimed the arrow. I remembered reading something about snipers putting distance and wind currents into their shots, and I aimed slightly higher.

Then I let go.

Two things happened.

One: I missed by a mile, my arrow going way over his lead and landing in the bushes behind them

Two: The string reverberated, going forward, then jumping back and hitting me across the face.

I yelped, grabbing my face with my hands, "Did I hit them?" I mumbled through my hands.

The Apollo kid was roaring with laugher, and quickly let two arrows fly, hitting the Dionysus kids in the knees and forcing them down.

"Oh, shut up." I glared at the Apollo kid, and I rubbed my face where there would no doubt be a very red line. "Am I bleeding?"

"Eh, A little." The blond-haired menace shrugged, "It happens to everyone first time. Not as much space up here to shoot."

"Could've used a warning." I glared.

He sent me an award-winning smile, "Where's the fun in that?"

* * *

The conch shell blew in the distance, alerting us to the fact that the game was over.

"Who won?" I asked, as we climbed down to the tree. I turned to see two Athena kids run past with the silver-grey flag and I grinned.

We'd won!

We quickly made out way back to the creek where the Hermes cabin had holstered Luke up onto their shoulders as he held a silver flag with a caduceus in the middle of it.

I looked for Percy, only to see him arguing with Annabeth who was looking at him slightly confused.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted James, and I remembered seeing him talking to Luke earlier. But all my inner doubts vanished as he ran off and threw an arm around my shoulder, "How goes the day, solider?" He chuckled at me.

I couldn't help the smile that fell over my face, "Well, I'm not bragging, but I definitely took down one of the Hephaestus guys."

He guffawed, knowing that I was joking. "Yeah, you got a little blood on your face there, Hercules."

"Bow's are freaking dangerous," I rubbed the blood off the small cut that spread diagonally across my face.

A low growl echoed through the woods.

Immediately the celebration stopped as everybody tried to figure out where the sound had come from.

Chiron stepped forward, yelling in Ancient Greek.

I saw various campers drawing their swords, and I threw my bow around my shoulders drawing my own. I had a feeling I would be needing more than blunt arrows.

But It didn't seem I would need. Many of the more experiences Campers immediately pushed me behind them. I felt an overwhelming surge of affection for them in that moment, which was squashed by the appearance of what had made the growl.

I didn't know its proper name, but I think the scientific term was 'Big Ass Dog'. This thing was way to large for my brain to comprehend. It's teeth were each big enough to fit my fist around. HIs eyes glowed red like fire coals.

And it was looking right at Percy.

"Percy, run!" Annabeth cried as the rest of the camp froze. She tried to push in front of him like the other campers had done for me, but the two of them had been to far away.

The Dog leapt over Annabeth and landed on top of Percy. I screamed, and someone was holding me back like I would actually be stupid enough to try to run to help while that thing was still there.

But then I realized, I _had _been trying to run. I stopped fighting as dozens of arrows from around me shot at the creature, forcing it off Percy where it fell to the ground dead, before bursting into dust.

Only then did I push off the person holding me, who I later found out had been James, and ran over to help Percy.

He was still alive, but the amount of blood leaking out from beneath his armor made me want to throw up. Didn't he have some sort of water healing thing?

"_Di immortales_!" Annabeth cursed, looking shocked, "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't...they're not supposed to..."

"Someone summoned it." Chiron said grimly, "Someone inside the camp."

My eyes filtered over to Luke's, before quickly jutting back to Percy. I really hoped the Son of Hermes hadn't noticed, as I knew my gig would be up.

I helped Percy upwardly slightly, trying to subtly push him towards the creek. He needed the water.

"It's all Percy's Fault! Percy summoned it!" Clarisse cried, but nobody paid her any mind. I saw more than a few eye rolls from some of the older campers.

"Be quiet, child." Chiron told her, not unkindly.

"Water." I finally said quietly, hoping Percy would understand. He looked at me confused, but Annabeth seemed to get it.

"She's right." Annabeth helped me with Percy, "We need to get him into the water."

"I'm okay." Percy waved them off.

"Of course." I said, still pushing him towards the creek, "You just had an unfortunate ketchup incident." I pointed to the blood spilling all down his front.

"Chiron." Annabeth called, "Watch this."

We helped him walk back into the creek and immediately he could stand on his own. He let out a soft breath of relief.

I gapped as I watched all the blood run up his body and disappear, probably back inside the wound. A part of me wondered how incredibly unhygienic that was, but a more prominent part was just relieved that he was okay.

And that's when it happened. Just like it did to me at the Big House. The glowing orb appeared above his head, this time a pale green with a trident in the centre. Nobody there needed to ask what that meant.

"Look, I - I don't know why..." Percy said, looking down at his body, not even noticing the claiming. "I'm sorry..."

"Percy.." Annabeth said, sounding aggravated, "Um..."

Percy looked up, only catching the tail end as the hologram faded out of existence. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, watching where it had been, in shock.

"Your father." Annabeth looked like she had swallowed a lemon, "This is really not good."

Everybody looked as shocked as her, well except for Luke who looked like he had won the lottery. I frowned at that. I didn't know why this was such a big deal, but it seemed like there hadn't been a Son of the Sea god in a long time.

"It is determined." Chiron announced.

Everybody started to kneel all around Percy. I rolled my eyes and followed suit, giving Percy a look that dared him to make a comment.

But he was still reeling in shock at what was happening.

"My Father?" He asked, looking confused.

"Poseidon." Chiron answered, "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

* * *

**A/N - Yay! They finally fixed the editor! It's been giving me so much grief recently, especially with line breaks. I was so happy to come onto this today and be able to edit it in the normal amount of time.**

**The next chapter follows the book a lot, especially with the dialogue. There's just some things you cannot change**

**Now I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been writing Luke a bit more like Movie Luke then book Luke. Honestly they weren't that different, but I loved Movie Luke like...a lot. I just felt like he was more likable then Book Luke and it came as more of a shock (well, for those who didn't know) when he turned out to be evil. Plus I really like Jake Abel.**

**For the next while it's probably gunna be one chapter in the book equals one chapter in the fic. It might change later on but I don't know yet...**

**Yeah I really have nothing to say this chapter...**

**Okay. Remember I have fanart of both Jane and her mother Nike on my deviantart, with links in my profile.**

**Please review with any thoughts, comments, concerns, or questions. I respond to all questions pretty much right away. i love hearing from you guys!**

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


	7. I Did Not Sign Up For This

_**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**_

* * *

**Chapter 7: I Did Not Sign Up For This!**

* * *

"I'm just saying." I told Percy as we wandered back to the Pavilion after capture the flag. "Nobody was kneeling when_ I_ was claimed."

He gave we a quick smile, looking relieved that I was joking about it rather than avoiding him, which is the route the rest of the camp took. On the entire walk nobody had once come within 5 feet of us, scooting around the edges and shooting glances. I could tell it was annoying Percy to no end.

But despite my best efforts to cheer him up, he shed his armor as fast as possible and dredged back to the Hermes cabin. I wondered if he would stay the night there, or if he would move to Poseidon cabin.

I sighed, and unclipped my leather chest piece, pulling it over my head. I didn't even notice Luke walk up behind me.

"What happened to you?" Luke asked, pointed to my face.

"You should see the other guy." I said dryly, depositing said 'other guy' back on the table along with my other borrowed items. I turned to see Luke hiding a smile under his hand and pointed at him threateningly, "Oh, you shut up."

"I didn't say anything!" He held up both hands. Then his smile faded and he looked over to where Percy had walked away, "So Poseidon, huh? Didn't see that coming."

"Why not?" I asked, curious.

"Well." He frowned, "I assumed..."

I nodded in understanding. He had assumed it would be Zeus, just like Annabeth had. I guess Zeus had been a bit of a playboy in the myths. From what I remembered near 90% of mythological problems stemmed from the fact that Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants.

But Luke had another look on his face. I saw triumph and determination, but something lingered beneath the surface. Uncertainty?

"So." I started, trying to judge his reaction, "Who do _you_ think let the Hellhound in?"

Luke didn't miss a beat, shrugging, "Who knows, could be anybody. Don't know why they would, though."

And then he walked away, leaving me to watch him. Did he know that I knew? Had he seen my sparring glance towards him back in the forest, briefly accusing him? And if he did, how long before he did something about it.

* * *

The next couple of days were hard on Percy. Everybody was avoiding him and whispering behind his back. I had stopped a couple people who'd been doing this, but I could only do so much. Some of the more senior councilors looked...concerned.

There hadn't been a kid of the Big Three here in years. Something which I learnt from James the day after Percy's claiming.

"I don't see what the big deal is." I grumbled as I picked up my fallen sword out of the dirt once again.

James frowned, "Nobody told you?"

"Told me what?"

Apparently there was some big pact the Big Three made, promising not to have any more children, because their kids were to way OP or something. He told me about a girl named Thalia and how she'd been a daughter of Zeus before dying and being turned into a tree.

So I was right. Zeus _couldn't _keep it in his pants. And neither, from the looks of it, could Poseidon.

I didn't get to see much of Percy after that. He didn't come to sword classes anymore, seeing as I was the only person willing to work with him and we were the least compatible fighters ever. So he would have on-on-one lessons with Luke.

I was worried that maybe Luke wouldn't teach Percy properly. Or try to make him weaker so that he could defeat him in battle easily, but when I saw Percy drenched in sweat (which his water resistance didn't save him from) I felt my worries fade.

"I don't envy you." I told him sincerely as I made note of huge bruises that covered his arms and back. He just shrugged.

"It's not so bad." He defended, "I'm getting better."

Which in 'Percy speak' probably meant he was freaking amazing. Personally I still hadn't managed to get a single hit on any of the Hermes cabin. Not even Elizabeth Flank, who was only 9 years old.

Percy didn't even _attend _archery anymore, something that _nobody _complained about. Not even Chiron called him out on his ditching.

The only time I really saw him was during arts and crafts (which is a very important Demigod skill). Chiron suggested we make statues of our parents, to hold in our cabins as a sign of respect.

I didn't much feel like respecting Nike right now, but it was better then sitting there doing nothing. And I knew what my mother looked like, something which drew the attention of Chiron right away.

"That's quite a likeness." Chiron raised an eyebrow as he studied my work.

I frowned, one of the wings was being held on with super glue after I'd accidentally chopped it off and the face had been mangled beyond recognition. I had been about to melt it down and start again.

I snorted, "If you say so."

"Do you have dreams, Jane?" He asked me quietly. I turned and saw Percy rummaging through the scrap bin. I didn't want him to hear about this, just incase it was yet another thing that made me a freak.

I looked at Chiron, avoiding eye contact, "Er, yeah. It was weird."

I told him the details of the dream, watching as his frown grew.

"-and then she ended it off by being all cryptic and saying 'All is not what it seems' or something."

"Hmm." Chiron nodded looking deep in thought. In the distance I heard the conch shell ring, signalizing the end of the day. "Come to the Big House tomorrow morning, around Nine."

"Um...Okay?" I looked at him confused, then backtracked, "I have Ancient Greek with Annabeth then."

Chiron got an amused glisten in his eyes which made me more nervous than it should have, "Not a problem."

* * *

Nine O'Clock the next morning I was sitting on a chair on the front porch of the Big House with Chiron and Mr. D. Above us, the clouds churned dangerously over the camp. I sighed, knowing that the good weather couldn't last forever. They didn't look like normal clouds either. They were thick and flat, but I knew that high above them there have a huge dome of thick black darkness.

Storm Clouds.

The air in the camp was charged as well. Not just with nerves, but with actual electricity. I had shocked myself half a dozen times in the bathroom this morning, something which couldn't be normal in a natural lightning storm. I couldn't help but feel there were other, more supernatural causes, to this storm.

It probably rhymed with _goose._

When I had walked up to the house, Mr. D had snorted softly to himself, and continued on his game. I gave him a strange look and sat down slowly. On the other side of the table an floating hand of cards played against the god. Chiron sat across from him, not playing, and instead staring at the sky with the same trepidation that I had been.

"Okay, You wanted me see me?" I asked Chiron.

"Yes, Yes.' Chiron said, looking distracted, "We're waiting for a few more people."

I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach at that. I had a feeling I knew who he was talking about, which was only confirmed as I watched Grover and a half asleep Percy walked towards the Big house from the cabins.

Oh no. Oh..._crap_.

Percy was looking up at the clouds, just as nervous as I was, and Grover just looked scared in general. Percy only brought his attention back down to Earth as he noticed me sitting there with Mr.D and Chiron.

"Well, well. Our little celebrity." he said 'celebrity' like one might say 'Brat' or 'Piece of popcorn you couldn't get out of your teeth'.

Percy, wisely, didn't say anything. He just stood there waiting for someone to explain what was going on.

Mr. D eyed him or a moment, then rolled his eyes, "Come closer. And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."

Thunder shook the house.

Mr. D looked unimpressed, "Blah, blah, blah."

Chiron's attention was focused completely on the interaction between Mr.D and Percy, as if waiting to jump in and break the two up.

"If I had my way." Mr D sneered, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: 'To keep you little brats safe from harm'."

Chiron looked at him, exasperated, "Spontaneous combustion _is_ a form of harm, Mr. D."

"Nonsense." Mr. D waved his hand, "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

Percy looked beyond startled, looking between Mr. D and Chiron as if trying to ask if he would actually do this.

"Mr.D-" Chiron warned.

"Oh, all right." Mr. D groaned, "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness."

I winced. That's what I was thinking.

Mr. D stood up, placing a losing hand on the table, "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic Bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."

He pulled out a thin plastic card and folded up until faded from few, leaving a whiff of grapes of wine behind him. I wondered if he'd even realized he'd called Percy by his correct name.

Chiron looked much more relaxed, "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."

Percy did as he was told, sending me a confused glance. I shrugged, letting him know that I didn't know what was happening either.

Although, I had an idea.

"Tell me Percy." Chiron started, "What did you make of the hellhound."

Percy hesitated, then cleared his throat, "it scared me." He said honestly, "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

Chiron nodded, looking at him thoughtfully before sighing, "You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."

Percy looked at me again, and I shrugged again.

"Done...with what?"

"Your quest, of course, should you accept it."

I froze. Oh, double crap.

Percy glanced over to Grover, who looked far to hopeful that Percy would say yes. This was a really bad idea!

"Um, sir." Percy licked his lips, looking unsure, "You haven't told me what it is yet."

Inwardly, I applauded him for asking. But a bigger part of me was freaking out because Chiron had asked me to be here for this. He couldn't think I should go on this quest, does he?

Chiron winced, "Well, that's the hard part, the details."

Again thunder rolled across the valley, as if telling Chiron to get on with it.

"Poseidon and Zeus." Percy guessed looking off towards the ocean. "They're fighting over something valuable...something that was stolen, aren't they."

I gapped at him, and I wasn't the only one. How the hell did he know that?

"How did you know that?" Chiron leaned forward in his wheelchair.

Percy blushed, looking ashamed that he'd opened his mouth, "The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And...I've also been having these dreams..."

I blinked at him. Intuitive bastard. I never would have been able to connect all the dots like that, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. The tornadoes and hurricanes so early in the season. Percy's dorm had been blown in my the intense wind storms back at Yancy.

"I knew it." Grover whispered.

"Hush, satyr."

"But it's his quest!" Grover argued, his eyes bright with excitement. "It must be!"

What was wrong with these people? This was not something to be excited about!

"Excuse me," I raised my hand and the three turned to look at me, "Yeah, hi, what am I doing here?"

"You are a daughter of Nike." Chiron explained as if it were obvious. I stared at him for a few seconds, but he didn't elaborate.

"Uh, huh." I nodded, "But I can't predict this or anything." I shook my head, looking at Percy then back to Chiron, "Volleyball, card games, sure. But not _quests_!"

Chiron looked at me kindly, "You misunderstand me Jane. Should Percy accept his quest, you shall accompany him."

"Say what, now?" My grin faded as I stared at Chiron in shock.

He sighed, "You are a child of Nike and you have arrived only days before this event. It is evident that you must go."

"No..." I shook my head, "No, no, no it's not. My mum said 'all is not as it appears' and yes that_ is _cryptic as all hell, but maybe it means thats not why I'm here."

Chiron sighed, "Perhaps. Perhaps not, unfortunately it would not be wise to risk it."

"Oh, come on." I groaned, looking around at the other's for support. "There's gotta be a hazard loophole. I'm just gonna get myself killed. Can't I meet up with them at the end or something."

Chiron leaned forward, "I'm sorry Jane, but there has been a pattern with Children of Nike. They are there to crown the Victors, as I'm aware Luke has told you." He looked a bit annoyed by this and I wondered if I wasn't supposed to know that, "But they're all soldiers. Every single child of Nike has fought in the battle they've decided."

I looked between the three of them, feeling my resolve fall. "Oh...no...Come on..."

* * *

After Percy wandered into the Big house to see the oracle, I slumped back into one of the plastic law chairs.

Oh, gods, oh gods, oh gods. I was going to die. I was going to get killed the worst way possible. It was going to be painful. I couldn't do any of this crap.

I went over in my mind. What happened in the movie? I closed my eyes trying to remember. They were looking for something. Pearls? And...there was a map? And Luke gave them the shield.

I frowned. I'd seen Luke's bunk, he didn't own a shield. His sword was two-handed. But maybe that's not what happened. Sarah had always gone on about how different the movie was.

I felt a pain in my chest. Sarah wasn't real. She'd never _been_ real. I swallowed the lump that had gathered up in my throat at that. My only friend in the whole universe and she hadn't even been real.

I cleared by throat and wrapped my arms around my middle, a habit I'd picked up in Foster care. I don't know why I gave in so easily. Maybe a small part of me is glad that I'm being forced to go on this quest. At least I'm doing _something._

And maybe something else I didn't want to admit. Percy was my best friend here. I didn't want to leave him. It was stupid and childish. But I _was_ a child now.

I was an Incredibly _scared _child.

Percy came downstairs only five minutes later, his face pale with a sheen of sweat over it. He looked like he was going to be sick. I remembered what Chiron had said about him going insane, and I momentarily panicked.

"Well?" Chiron asked him. Percy looked up at him and took a few calming breaths. I felt my fears fade. Whatever he'd heard had scared him, but not permanently damaged him.

Percy cleared his throat, sitting down at the table across from being, sitting stiffly, "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."

Grover looked ecstatic, "That's great!"

But Chiron didn't looked as sure, "What did the Oracle say exactly? This is important."

Percy looked hesitant to say, "She...she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it!" Grover was grinning widely.

But Chiron just pierced Percy with his dark eyes, "Anything else?"

Percy paused, his eyes flying over towards me and then Grover, before clearing his throat, "No. That's about it."

He was lying, obviously. I didn't have to be a child of Apollo to know he was hiding something. He kept averting his eyes, and a faint blush appeared in his cheek. I wanted to press him for information, but not in front of Chiron. Whatever it was, it had scared him.

The first part of the prophecy seemed right, though. They went west and faced Hades, the god who then turned on them...right? Must be...

"Very well Percy." Chiron nodded, seeing that Percy wasn't going to tell him anything, "But know this: The Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events have come to pass."

And on a list of things that did _no_t make me feel better.

It didn't look like it made Percy feel any better either, "Okay..." His voice shook, before he nodded, "So where do I go? Who's this 'god in the west'?"

"Ah, think Percy." Chiron started, "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"

Percy shook his head, thinking, "Somebody else who wanted to take over?"

"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."

"Hades." Percy said without much time to think about it.

Chiron nodded, "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."

I let out a small whine at that, but it was nothing compared to Grover's reaction. His grinned faded immediately. "Whoa, wait. Wh-What?"

"Oh come on." I looked at Grover with a frown, "Of course it was going to be somewhere dark and scary. Our luck couldn't be_ that _good."

Chiron looked at the three of us with pity, "A fury came after Percy and Jane, she watched him until she was sure of his identity, then she tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."

I paused, a horrible sinking feeling crawling up my spine. Something was wrong. The fury wasn't just trying to _kill_ Percy. She'd asked for a confession. Up until now I'd assumed that Zeus sent the Fury. But if it was Hades...

What did he want Percy to confess?

"Yes, but-" Grover swallowed, "But Hades hates _all_ heroes. Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon."

"A hellhound got into the forest. Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here."

I felt sick as different thoughts ran through my head. But _Luke_ had summoned the hellhound. It had to be him. But he wasn't a spy for Hades, he was working on his own, wasn't he?

I felt my breathing quicken as everything hit me at once. I was going into this _blind_. Up until now nearly everything stayed the same. But this...this was _new_. This was a brand new city and I had no map, no reference points, no floor plans. I - I-

"I think I'm going to be sick." I groaned, placing my head between my knees. I saw Percy shift his feet away from me slightly out of my peripheral, and Grover patted my back awkwardly.

This was me. Cowardly, anxiety ridden, hide in the corner until it's over Jane.

Chiron gave me a sympathetic look and I waved for him to continue, still hunched over. "He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest." Chiron finished.

I groaned, lifting my head again. Percy sent me a look asking if I was okay, and I nodded. Okay, I could do this. I _could_ do this.

"Great." Percy mumbled, "That's _two_ major gods who want to kill me."

See! Percy had _gods_ after him. I could deal with being a sidekick. I could be the sidekick. I took a few more calming breaths.

"Are you alright Miss Braxton?" Chiron asked, sounding worried, and slightly amused.

Ass.

"Yeah." I nodded, "I'm...I'm good."

Grover was starting to shake, "But a quest to...I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."

I agreed with goat boy.

"Hades sent a minion to steal the Master Bolt." Chiron continued, "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this tim to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the underworld to reveal the truth."

I nodded in agreement with him, but I was still dazed. I couldn't help the sinking feeling in my gut and Chiron's speech didn't help.

Because it sounded like he was trying to convince _himself_ more then us.

Percy clenched his jaw as he looked between me and Grover before he nodded, turning to Chiron, "If we know it's Hades why can't we just tell the other gods. Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."

"Yes, I agree with that plan." I pointed to Percy, "Why can't we do that?"

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades - and I imagine Poseidon does - they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"

"Yeah well, I'm not bold enough _or _strong enough." I argued, "And I still have to go on this stupid thing."

Chiron gave me fond grin.

But Percy just frowned, "You're saying I'm being used?"

Chiron smiled at him, "I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon had claimed you now. In the same way that it's no accident that Nike has claimed Jane. It's a very risky gamble, but he'd in a desperate situation. They needs you."

I looked down at my seat, trying to ignore the warm feelings bubbling up inside me. Nike needed me? What a joke. Nike needed me to do a job. Then she would throw me away like yesterday's trash.

I don't know if anyone caught the resentment bubbling up inside me, but I tried to push it down all the same. Did all demigods feel this way?

Percy narrowed his eyes at Chiron, "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"

"I had my suspicions. As I said...I've spoken to the oracle, too."

That got my attention. he had mentioned that earlier hadn't he? When he was explaining the situation with the bolt. But it was quickly made apparent that he had zero intention of telling us.

Percy let out a deep breath, 'So let me get this straight. I'm supposed to go the underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."

"Check."

"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"Check."

"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."

"That's about right."

"Oh, well." I snorted, "When you say it like that..."

Grover gulped down another playing card, looking mournfully at the table, "Did I mention Maine is very nice this time of year?"

"You guys don't have to go." Percy said sternly, emphasizing 'you guys' to made sure I knew I was included in that. "I can't ask that of you."

"Oh..." Grover sighed, "No...it's just that satyrs and underground places...well...You saved my life, Percy. If...if you're serious about wanted me along, I won't let you down."

I groaned. How was I supposed to say no after that? Freaking goat boy making me look bad.

"Ugh, fine." I growled, "I guess I owe you for saving my ass back at the museum."

"Language." Chiron chided, softly.

Percy sent me a thankful look, before turning back to Chiron, "So where do we go? The oracle just said to go west."

""The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America."

"Where?"

Chiron looked surprised, "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the underworld is in Los Angeles."

"Hollywood." I chuckled to myself, "People will sell a hell of a lot more then their souls to become famous."

Percy blinked, but nodded, "Oh. Naturally. So we just get on a plane-"

"No!" Grover shrieked, and I jumped back. What was his problem? That seemed like a perfectly okay plan. "Percy what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"

Percy blushed, shaking his head slightly.

"Percy, think." Chiron said, "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."

"Yeesh." I winced, "That's a bit...dramatic."

My statement was accompanied by thunder snapping across the sky. I could swear if you listened really close, you could almost hear the sass coming down from the storm clouds.

"Okay, So I'll travel overland." Percy agreed.

"That's right." Chiron nodded, then frowned, "Usually only two companions may accompany you, but with the arrival of Jane here, we may have to bend the rules a bit."

"Why?" I asked, looking around the table, "One, two, three." I counted us off.

"Yes, however another has volunteered for the quest, and I am inclined to allowed her to go with you."

Percy rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Gee, Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"

Behind Chiron the air shimmered and Annabeth appeared out of nowhere. Like, literally nowhere. What the hell?

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain." She snapped at Percy, "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

The two Demigods stared each other down for a few seconds before I nodded in my agreement.

"She's got a point." I muttered.

"If you do say so yourself." Percy smirked slightly at her, egging her on, "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?'

Annabeth blush, but from anger more than embarrassment, "Do you want my help or not."

Percy didn't answer right away, so I kicked him under the table. Yes! Yes we needed her help, and badly! Two new demigods and a saytr would get eaten alive out there.

"A team." Percy nodded, looking us all over, "That'll work."

"Excellent." Chiron nodded, looking more then a little relieved, "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."

As if on cue, the skies broke apart and it started to rain.

And if that wasn't a metaphor for this whole experience, I didn't know what was.

* * *

**AN: HOLY TITLE CHANGE. Yeah, as you may have noticed I changed the title of the story to 'On the Wings of Victory'. The old title just wasn't doing it for me. I figured it would be better to change it now then when it's finished. I've changed the summery a few times as well. I always do this throughout a story as I think of something different. If you haven't altered/followed his story and are still tracking it you may want to keep mind of my author name, as that won't be changing.**

**This chapter was such a pain to write the first time. Just because it was a whole lotta dialog from the books. As you'll notice I skipped a whole bunch of dialog up to when Percy goes to see the oracle. I'm under the assumption that everyone here has read the books. If you haven't...well actually that would be super interesting. Let me know how you're finding it.**

**I wanted to finish writing at least up to 'A God Buys us Cheeseburgers' before posting this, but then my internet crashed and I don't have the books on hand at the moment. So I couldn't do much. On a completely separate note I now have a good handle on where this story is going and have planned out a potential series going until TLO.**

**So I was watching TLT movie the other day and there was always one thing that makes me laugh. That Persephone was there in the summer.**

**Not because they got that wrong, but because it's actually RIGHT. In Greece, the growing season, when Persephone would be above ground, was actually in the WINTER. Because in the summer it was way too hot and dry to grow anything. If we're thinking about the transition to American culture like they have with the rest of the books, then yes she would be downstairs in the winter, but if we're going with the greek version it makes complete sense.**

**My artwork for both jane and Nike can be found on my** **profile.**

**Please**** review with any thoughts, questions or concerns! I respond to all questions, but if you post an anon review you'll have to wait for the next chapter.**

Until Next Time,

-Ash


	8. I Immediately Regret This Decision

_**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. Only my OC**_

* * *

**Chapter 8: I Immediately Regret this Decision**

* * *

"You're going where!" James shrieked as I stuffed what little possessions I owned into my bag.

I glared at him, "Keep your voice down." I looked around the cabin to see if anyone had heard. I wasn't supposed to tell James, but he had been persistent. Only the cabin counsellors and a very few select senior campers were allowed to know about the situation.

This unfortunately meant that Luke was all to aware of our quest, and was being insanely helpful.

I didn't like it.

"That's _insane_, You haven't even been here a _month_." James hissed under his breath.

I laughed humorlessly and wrapped my belt and scabbard around my waist, then pushed my sword into it. "Tell that to Chiron."

"Here." He ran forward helped me put on my coat, which was trickier which a sword on my hip. I thanked him, then threw my quiver and bow over my shoulder. Annabeth had gotten it for me out of this dusty shed at the back of the Athena cabin.

And she had been extremely unfriendly about it.

Well, not unfriendly so much as not-as-friendly as she had been the first couple weeks I had been here. She'd been this way since Percy was claimed, but her annoyance had always been directed more towards Percy than me.

I thought back over our interactions, not able to pin point anything i'd done to specifically piss her off, so I let it go. She had probably gone into battle mode early or something.

I turned around and faced James, who was looking at me, worried. i gave me what I hoped was a reassuring smile, "I'll be fine."

"You don't sound certain." He argued.

Well there goes my oscar. I swallowed, and shouldered my bag, "Well look at the bright side, If we all die then you'll have worse things to worry about than us."

"And what if just _you_ die."

I froze, as I knew that this was a very real possibility. Also I was a bit freaked out with the intensity that he was looking at me with. I took a step backwards, and coughed.

"Well, like you said." I avoided eye contact with him, "You haven't even known me a month. I'm sure I won't be the first half-blood who's died."

The intensity faded and he looked a bit put out. But he nodded, looking down. "Well good luck then. I hope you find...I hope you're okay."

I gave him a quick smile, and he leaned in hugging me. I hugged him back feeling more than overwhelmed by everything that was happening. James had been so good to me the last couple of weeks.

I pulled away, "I'll see you again."

He grinned, but it didn't quite meet his eyes, "You'd better."

And with one last fleeting smile, I walked out of the Hermes Cabin.

* * *

I was leaning against Thalia's tree when Chiron started to head up the hill. I tried hard not to think about how the tree used to be an actual person, instead focusing on the view.

It was really strange to see the normal world after everything that had happened the last couple of weeks. It didn't exactly look any different, the same green fields and strawberry farms. Less greek architecture sure, but there wasn't anything staggeringly different.

Except for that feeling. A strange feelings that I got in my stomach, looking down the other side of the hill. A small anxiety that didn't exist in camp. The demigod instinct blaring to life and warning me that I was no longer safe out there. I could be killed at every moment.

Or maybe I was just scared.

Yeah it could be that, because I_ was _scared. And I was angry. Not at the gods or at Percy, but at myself. I was starting o this stupid quest without a clue of what I was getting into and i was _pissed. _Because it was my own stupid fault.

"The unknown." Chiron whispered, coming to standing beside me as he followed my gaze., "It frightens you."

"I could've known."I dug the tip of my shoe into the grass, digging up some dirt, "I _should've_ known. Nike, she gave me a chance. I could've known how this whole _stupid_ thing was going to end. But I blew it."

Chiron looked down at me with a smile, "Foreknowledge is not always a good thing, Jane."

"Speak for yourself." I shivered, pulling my sweater around me.

He let out a short breath, "The unknown frightens you." He repeated it like it was a fact, "The unknown future scares you more than you will admit. It's natural of a daughter of Nike. But I will stand by what I said. Do what comes natural to you. To use a modern phrase: Go with the Flow."

I smiled a bit at that, but it was short-lived. So my fear of new things, new places, was actually a fear of uncertainly of the future.

"Can't I have any part of my personality that wasn't supposedly a result of my parentage." I whined.

Chiron chuckled at that, "Yes. We like to point out similarities more than differences, I'm afraid. But I think it's safe to say that your flippancy is your own."

That got a smile out of me. I shifted my shoulder which held a bow and readjusted my belt. Chiron had assured me that the mist would hide both items, but I couldn't believe it. I was sure that I was going to be arrested as soon as I got to the bus depot.

I was the first one here, I guess I didn't have as many people to say goodbye to. Also I felt that if I stayed in the camp longer than necessary I would chicken out and make a run for it.

Percy and Annabeth soon ran up the hill, Grover trotting up behind them. His fake feet and Rasta cap were back in place. I didn't see any weapons on either Percy or Annabeth, but I _knew_ Annabeth was packing. She probably had that bronze knife hidden somewhere on her being.

Percy had wanted to take a sword, but Luke had advised against it, saying that if it wasn't balanced it could be a hazard to him. Which was probably good advice, if not a bit_ shady_.

When Percy got to the top of the hill Chiron introduced him to Argus, the guy who had driven me to camp. The mirage guy turned out to have eyes all over his body, which was why he looked like he was shifting the entire time I spoke to him.

Our departing scene was cut short by the sounds of someone running up the hill. We all turned to see Luke breathing heavily.

"Hey!" He panted, "Glad I caught you."

I saw Annabeth start to blush deeply, and grabbed a strand of her blond hair, twisting it around her finger.

Luke didn't notice, however, and just nodded to the group in general, "Just wanted to say good luck. And I thought...um, maybe you could use these."

He pulled out a pair of chucks and handed them over to Percy, who frowned. Luke grinned at his expression and shouted '_Maia_'.

I gasped as two wings sprouted out from the side of the shoes. I remembered these! They came in handy in the movie, from what I remembered.

"Awesome!" Grover gasped, as he watch the shoes fly around.

Luke smiled at them, "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." He looked downcast and I wanted to scoff.

But Percy swallowed the act, looking more than a little bashful that Luke had given him a gift, "Hey, man. Thanks."

"Listen, Percy." Luke shifted slightly, "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just...kill some monsters for me, okay?"

They shook hands and Luke patted Grover's head between the horns. He swept up Annabeth in a huge brotherly hug, which made Annabeth almost pass out.

He got to me and I held out my hand to shake his, when he surprised me by sweeping me up in a huge hug.

"Oh, okay. We're hugging then." I mumbled in confusion, as I patted his back awkwardly.

But right before putting me down Luke leaned forward and whispered something in my ear.

"_Don't wear the shoes."_

He put me down and I stared at him, uncertain. Nobody called me out on it as they must have thought I was confused about the hug.

Why would he say that? Was there something wrong with the shoes? I looked over at them. They were a little small to hide the master bolt, but he hadn't given them anything that might be hiding it.

So what was up with the shoes. And why shouldn't I wear them.

And why tell _me_?

I shook my head. No. He's just trying to trip me up, make me lose focus. He must know that I knew he was evil. The shoes would help us. He was trying to make us fail somehow.

We all watched Luke run back down the hill with different emotions.

Percy smirked at Annabeth, sensing an opportunity to get under her skin, "You're hyperventilating."

"Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

"Oh...why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?!" And with that she stormed off to the van.

I smirked, "Oh please. Percy you were blushing almost as back as she was."

His smiled dropped, "Was not!" I laughed, but didn't continue, and Percy turned towards Chiron, eager to change the topic. He looked down at the shoes sadly, "I won't be able to use these, will I?"

Chiron shook his head, a faint amusement lingering on his face, "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air...that would not be wise for you."

Percy nodded, then turned to me, "Want a magic item, Jane?"

I froze, Luke's warning still fresh in my head. Was it a trap? A ploy to get me killed? Or a genuine warning?

I didn't want to risk it. I shook my head, "I'll pass."

Percy shrugged, "Hey, Grover! You want a magic item?"

I bit my lip, feeling guilty as they strapped the shoes onto Grover. He'll been fine. There was absolutely_ nothing_ wrong with those shoes.

"_Maia!_"

I laughed loudly as he shot into the air, and then down towards the car feet first, his face pressed into the grassy hill.

"I'll get him." I sighed, running down to where Annabeth and Argus were already trying to help him down.

He was like a bucking bull, twisting every which way. Finally Annabeth called, "_Maia!_" And the shoes turned off, causing Grover to land in a heap at out feet. A huge green streak stretched across his face from the grass.

"Ugh." He groaned, "Steering...these things need steering."

I chuckled, and helped him to his feet, wiping the grass off his sweater, "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it."

I turned to Annabeth, who was already getting into the van. I sighed, wondering if maybe it was because I was friends with Percy. Like...she was against Poseidon and all his allies.

Which was ironic seeing as she was going on a quest to help clear his name.

Did she maybe think I was betraying her mom because I was friends with Percy? I hadn't really thought about it like that. I remembered all her rants about how closely entwined Athena and Nike where and I groaned. Great.

Percy walked down the hill towards them, looking a million miles away.

I grinned, running up to the front of the van, "Shotgun!"

* * *

"They must _really_ like olives."

"Oh, forget it!"

"Now, if she'd invented pizza - that I could understand..."

"_Alright!_" I yelled, putting on my best 'mom' voice, "If you two don't stop bickering, so help me _gods_ I will turn this van around. No quests for _anybody!_"

That quieted them both immediately. I turned back to stare out the front window, noticing Argus chuckling softly under his breath.

The two of them had started at it almost as soon as we left camp. Well, Annabeth seemed genuinely annoyed at the son of Poseidon, while Percy was just taking any opportunity to make her mad.

And it was working. Annabeth practically had steam coming out of her ears. I was almost impressed. Annabeth was so serious, calm and collected all the time at camp. It was amusing to see her get so riled up over something so tiny.

It wasn't long before Argus pulled up to the bus depot, and we all unloaded from the van. Argus came with us to help us buy our tickets and then gave us a quick fair well before driving away.

Even as he pulled out I could see several of his eyes watching us until he was out of sight.

After a quick bathroom break I sat on the nearest bench and watched the three of them play Hacky Sack with an apple. Percy asked if I wanted to join, but I just waved him off. Truth was I didn't want to embarrass myself with my dismal Hacky skills.

The bus was on time, which seemed a bit odd as I couldn't remember _ever _having a bus be on time before. But I took it as a sign of good luck.

There was only one row on the bus with three seats near the back, so I bit the bullet and sat by myself in front of them. Lucky for me, the bus wasn't full and I could stave off anybody by glaring and giving off a general 'Bad Teenager' vibe.

"_Percy_!" I heard Annabeth hiss from behind me.

I looked back at them, wondering what was up. But all of their gazes were at the front of the bus.

I turned and groaned, sinking into my seat.

"That's not fair." I whined, throwing my hood up. At the front of the bus stood three old ladies, one of which was my old Math teacher, Mrs. Dodds. "I thought Percy killed that one."

"They can reform." Annabeth looked too terrified to be annoyed with me.

The three of them sat in the front row, crossing their legs over the aisle. Subtle, but effectively trapping us at the back of the bus.

Fantastic.

"This is just a great start." I grumbled, before turning back, "How do we get out?"

The bus jolted as the Bus driver backed it out and started heading down the streets of Manhattan.

Percy looked worried, "She didn't stay dead long. I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're lucky!" Annabeth spat, "You're obviously not"

"Oh, well obviously." I bit out.

"The sarcasm is _not_ helping." Annabeth hissed at me.

I glared at her, "It's my _coping_ mechanism, deal with it."

"Guys." Percy interrupted, "Not the time."

Grover as shaking in his seat, "All three of them..._.Di immortales_..."

"It's okay." Annabeth said, looking around, "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the underworld. No problem. no problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

Grover looked over same as me, "They don't open." He moaned.

"A back exit?"

"There isn't one." I said, looking at the back of the bus. I quickly looked up at roof. Still nothing. I growled, why did they have to get the only bus in the world that didn't have an emergency exit.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around." Percy asked, "Will they?"

Annabeth paused, looking uncertain, "Mortals don't have good eyes. Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"

Or the other way around, I thought bitterly. I started to take my bow off my shoulder but Annabeth held her hand up.

"Don't." She said, "There's not enough room. Remember what happened during capture the flag?"

I grimaced, the cut across my face still hadn't healed. I threw the bow back over my shoulder and frowned. I couldn't take out my sword. The security guys hadn't said anything, apparently altogether my bow and sword looked like a guitar case that I had slung over my back. But If I took the sword out and started to slash at monsters, it would become pretty obvious it wasn't a guitar.

Annabeth turned back to Percy, "The mist works in strange ways. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof?"

"Negative." I whispered quickly, and angrily. It didn't matter anyway. They couldn't make a jump for it while the bus was moving.

We drove into the Lincoln tunnel and everything went dark. The only light was the emergency lights on the bus and the headlights from the other cars driving opposite of them. The strobe light effect it created made me disoriented, eliminating sight as one of the senses I could rely on.

"I need to use the rest room." Mrs Dodds announced it to the whole bus, but nobody else seemed to hear her, or maybe they were just used to weirdo's on the bus.

"So do I."

"So do I."

"Oh, not good." I moaned. I looked back, "Please tell me you have a plan."

"Shut up and let me think." Annabeth hissed, closing her eyes as she muttered under her breath. Finally she let out a gasp and turned to Percy, "I've got it. Percy, Take my hat."

"What?" He gapped at her.

"You're the one they want." Annabeth breathed out, "Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"What about us?" I hissed, feeling my self-preservation instinct come to the surface.

Annabeth paused, trying to hide her own terror at having to face the three monsters, "There's an outside chance they might not notice us. Percy's a son of one of the Big Three. His smell might be overpowering."

"But..." I let out a shaky breath, "She _saw _me. At Yancy with Percy."

Annabeth cursed in Ancient Greek and looked down the aisle, before shaking her head, "No time, we'll have to risk it. Percy, put it on!"

Percy hesitated, but then pursed his lips and threw the baseball cap on. I heard him shuffle out of his seat and down the aisle.

We all held our breaths, watching. For a second Mrs. Dodds paused and looked into one of the empty seats, her eyes narrowing. I couldn't breathe as I knew that was where Percy was. After a few heart-wrenching moments she passed it, dismissing Percy completely.

One obstacle passed. One to go. We were almost out of the tunnel as well which was nice, but at this moment in time I was pretty certain that we were all going to die before we saw the light of day again.

My breath was coming out in shaky bursts. They sounded heavy and loud and I could swear the monsters could hear the fast pumping of my heart as I waited.

They did not disappoint.

For once in my life I was correct. The second Mrs. Dodds saw me she screeched and transformed into the ugly bat hag that I remembered from the museum.

I yelped, and ducked my head, falling to the floor as she slashed her hug claws at me. they tore into the seat leave three rips exposing the wire and cotton stuffing beneath. I covered my head and flattened myself, rolling under the seat as a fiery whip came down next to my face.

"Little help, guys!" My voice cracked in fear as I silently thanked whatever god was listening that I was small enough to fit underneath these seats.

"Where is it?" One of the furies screeched, their voices high-pitched and unnatural. The pounding in my ear lessened and now I could hear people screaming nearby. "Where?!"

"He's not here." Annabeth yelled back, "He's gone.'

I could hear Annabeth pulled her blade out and figured this was a good time for me to come out from underneath the seat and help them out.

But then something so ridiculous happened that I knew it had to the fault of Percy Fucking Jackson.

The Bus served dangerously, tilting to the left and into oncoming traffic. There was even more screaming now and I gripped the chair standard in order to keep myself from flying into the aisle. I could hear Annabeth yelp as she was thrown into the chairs.

The bus lit up as we came out of the Lincoln tunnel. I got a better view of the situation now. People were scattered around the bus as the bus driver fought to regain control of the situation. He veered the bus off the highway and down an exit onto a rural road.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the brakes activated. The Bus jolted, and I was forced out of my safe place under the seat and into the aisle, where it hit the other seats with a '_thump'_.

I quickly jumped to my feet, coughing a bit. I quickly moved aside, not wanted to tramped by the people as they ran off the bus.

Annabeth was yelling at the furies in ancient Greek, and Grover threw tins cans whilst cowering in one of the seats. I back down the aisle, pulling my bow off my shoulder and aiming.

"Hey!" A voice called behind me.

All three furies turned they attention towards the voice, and therefore me.

"Oh, thanks a lot." I yelled at Percy, who had taken off his invisibility cap. He ducked in front of me, giving me a sheepish grin, before turning to face the Furies.

Mrs Dodds came forward, the whip twisting and hissing in front of her. I eyed the fire warily, knowing that it would hurt like yell if it got caught on me. I kept the bow taut but didn't let go.

'_Don't waste arrows.' _I remembered Will Solace, the same Apollo kid I'd been teamed up with at capture the flag, telling me. '_In movies they seem unlimited, but in real life you will run out, and it will get you killed.'_

The Furies focus was entirely on Percy. She eyes my notched arrow with disinterest and locked eyes with the son of Poseidon.

"Perseus Jackson." She rasped, "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I liked you better as a math teacher." Percy snarked, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pen. He took the cap off and it elongated until finally the same sword he'd used in the museum was shining in his hands.

Where the hell did he get that? _When _the hell had he gotten that? Had he had it on him the whole time?

The furies hesitated at the site of the sword, or maybe they were waiting for Percy to make the first move. Either way, I kept my bow aimed. I wouldn't take a shot unless I was certain I would hit something. Otherwise I'd just draw attention to myself.

"Submit now! And you will not suffer eternal torment." Mrs Dodds hissed, although she sounded a bit uncertain. Perhaps it had something to do with being surrounded by three demigods.

Well, two demigods, a Satyr and a walking disaster.

"Nice try." Percy scoffed.

"Percy look out!" Annabeth warned.

With just a flick of her wrist, Mrs. Dodds sent her whip out towards Percy. Behind just slightly behind him I yelped, ducking down. The whip lashed around Percy's sword hand He gasped in pain, but somehow managed not to drop his sword.

Instead he twisted, slamming the hilt into the fury on his left, sending her flying back into the seats. I quickly, stumbled back into the seats on the other side, re-notching my arrow.

I aimed at Mrs Dodds, but faltered. Annabeth was right behind her. I remembered what happened during capture the flag and cursed. If I missed I could hit Annabeth,

So I turned to the Fury who was opposite to me. Walking into the aisle, I aimed at her as she didn't seem to have noticed me. Like her sister's she was completely focused on Percy. I let the arrow go.

It soared over the air and hit her right as she moved to lunge at Percy. She fell apart into dust.

Percy blinked and then turned to look at me in surprise.

"Ha!" I cheered in slight disbelief, "I got her!"

I turned to see what was happening with the other two furies, my confidence swinging to life. I raised an eyebrow as I watched as Annabeth had Mr. Dodds in a choke hold while Grover tied her legs together with her own whip.

Percy had already taken care of the other Fury. I stared at Mrs Dodds, wondering if Annabeth had forgotten she had a knife.

"Zeus will destroy you!' The fury screeched, "Hades will have your soul!"

"_Braccas meas vescimini!" _Percy retaliated.

"Not your best line, Perce." I snorted, feeling much for at ease now that the fury was more or less incapacitated. I remembered Will's warning and reached down, grabbing the arrowed I'd shot at the fury and re-notched it.

But before anything could happened, Annabeth shot to her feet, forgetting about the Fury. "Get out!" She screamed. "Now!"

The urgency in her voice alerted me to the very real danger and I immediately sprung into action. I turned and grabbed Percy, not trusting him to listen to Annabeth, and dragged him forward as we ran off the bus. I could feel my hairs all stand on end.

I threw the arrow into my quiver and strapped on my bow, running away from the bus.

"Our bags!" Grover gasped, turning around, "We left our-"

But right then, a huge bolt of lighting came down from the cloudless sky and blew the bus to pieces. I was still close enough to the bus that the blast lifted me off my feet and sent me flying back into Grover.

"Oof." I groaned, thankful for the soft landing. Grover on the other hand disagreed. I stumbled to my feet, helping him up

A screech echoed from inside the destroyed bus.

"Oh, _come on_." I growled. "How did that not kill her?"

Annabeth sheathed her knife, "Run! She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"

"No arguments here." I nodded, shifting my bow out of the way as we all ran into the dark New Jersey Forest.

* * *

**A/N: Jane's first monster kill! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, mostly because we are finally on track with the story. **

**For Anybody who's interested I've written a Percabeth fluffy one-shot. It's the first time I've done a one shot, but a friend of mine suggested I post it, so I did. **

**Last chapter I did a little rant about Persephone, and today I had a realization about a joke in PJO that I don't think a lot of people actually understood: The Joke with Demeter and the Cereal.**

**Now I'm sure that a lot of people DO understand, but for those who don't: 'Cereals' Is a different name for 'Grains'. Like...wheat, barley, rye etc etc. Which is why Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, loves Cereal. I thought it was a super clever joke, but so many people didn't get it so I had to throw this out there.**

**I don't have much to say here this time. Please Review with any questions, concerns and thoughts, I love hearing from you guys. It's the highlight of my day!**

**Until next time,**

**-Ash**


	9. The (Not So) Good Drugs

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO**

* * *

**Chapter 9: I Get a Dose of the (Not So) Good Drugs.**

* * *

I was miserable.

You remember when I mentioned I was raised in New York? Well anybody raised in a big city will know that that means I am practically useless in the wilderness.

One of the foster homes I was sent to was in Butt fuck nowhere Colorado, and I swear that every person and their dog could make a fire, even if it was pouring rain.

I looked up at the onslaught of rain and suddenly wished I had a Colorado Dog with me. I was freezing cold, pulling my soaked army jacket around me as we slugged through the mud. The trees had save us from some of the rain, but it had still make the ground a soggy mess.

We were being attacked on two fronts.

Grover was terrified still, jumping at every flash of lightning and he kept looking behind us. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once..."

Annabeth tensed, but she helped Grover through a particularly deep part of the mud, "Come on! The further away we get, the better."

Percy rounded on her, "All our money was back there! Our food and clothes. Everything!"

Annabeth practically snarled at him, "Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight-"

"What do you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy! I would've been fine."

Grover shook in his hooves, "Sliced like sandwich bread. But Fine."

"Shut up, goat boy." Annabeth narrowed her eyes, but I could still hear the fondness in her voice. Then she stormed off.

"Tin cans...a perfectly good bag of tins cans."

I grinned at him. Personally I was bummed that my bag had exploded, but there hadn't been anything in there that I had owned for more than a few months. Nothing that I had any sort of sentimental value for.

Annabeth slowed her march, until finally she lined up with Percy. She huffed and looked at him reluctantly, "Look, I...I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."

Percy shrugged, but I could see the red tinge in his cheeks, "We're a team, right?"

"Yeah..' Annabeth sighed, "Plus Jane was all but useless."

"Hey!" I said, offended, "It was a strategic...hiding place. Besides I got _one _of them."

I saw her grin a bit before she remembered that she was supposed to be annoyed with me and turned back to Percy, "It's just that if you died...aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."

I wanted to tell her the real world wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Growing up in it taught me that most people were self-centered assholes. I was one of them, sure, but I learnt that if you can't beat 'em, you learn their ways and try to blend in. But Annabeth was just a kid, I couldn't crush all her dreams. I couldn't tell her how lucky was she to have her camp, to be surrounded by people who loved you and respected you. Where you were safe.

I couldn't help but feel that one day she would be looking back at this moment and realize how wrong she was.

"You haven't left camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" Percy asked Annabeth curiously. I frowned. Seven? Wow she _had _been there for a long time. She must know things about this world that I would have never dreamed about. I suddenly felt extremely happy she was here.

"No...only short field trips. My dad..." She trailed off, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. I trailed back, walking beside Grover and pretended that I couldn't hear them talking. I knew it wouldn't fool the daughter of Athena, but she seemed relieved that I wasn't trying to barge into their semi-private conversation.

"The history professor?" Percy asked, completely missing the moment between me and Annabeth.

Annabeth turned back to Percy, "Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home. At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not."

Percy cleared his throat nervously, "You're pretty good with that knife."

"You think so?" Annabeth fiddled with the handle.

"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me."

They were both silent after that. I was just glad they weren't fighting anymore. They were both pretty scary when they were mad.

Grover pulled something out of his jacket and waved it a few times as the rain started to lessen. I looked down to see him holding a set of reed pipes which were soaking wet.

Annabeth mumbled something quietly to Percy, but was quickly interrupted by Grover bringing to pipes to his mouth a blowing.

I jumped back as a piercing high-pitched noise came from them.

"Hey, My reed pipes still work!" Grover cheered, "If I could remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods."

He brought it up to his mouth a tooted a few more times.

I reached up and pulled down the pipes, "Stop! Grover just...stop, please." I winced, sighing as the sound stopped. Well if there were any monsters in these woods they could sure hear us now.

A loud thump and a yelp drew my attention back to Percy, and I instinctively grabbed my sword. I looked but I couldn't see him. A shuffling on the ground brought my attention and I looked down to see Percy on his back, rubbing his nose. I looked back up as saw a tree.

I smirked, relaxing, "You alright there, Perce?"

"M'Good." He stumbled to his feet, trying to maintain his dignity.

"You gotta watch for those trees?" I sniggered as we continued to walk, "They just pop out of nowhere!"

* * *

"You think it's a trap?" I asked, peeking out of the forest at the only building that they'd seen in the last couple of miles.

Annabeth shrugged, "Doubt it. Do you smell that?"

I nodded quickly. It was the reason they were there. It was amazing, like burgers and fries and everything wonderful in life. Percy and Annabeth seemed to agree with me as we studied the building.

Usually I would never have thought about going anywhere near a building this creepy and run down. I'd seen enough horror movies to know where it would go. But I didn't get a bad vibe from the place. I got a...good smell. A pretty freaking wonderful smell.

"What the heck does that say?" Percy whispered and I turned to see him staring at a bright red neon light. I frowned. Had that been there a second ago? I couldn't remember.

Annabeth squinted, "I don't know."

"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Grover read quickly, probably used to translating for demigods.

I looked around the yard, seeing the statues and Gnomes. Strange business to have in the middle of nowhere, but I guess people do impulse buy.

"Think we should check it out?" I asked, begging them to say yes. The smell was overpowering everything.

Instead of answering Percy got up and started to walk across the abandoned road.

"Hey!" Grover warned him, but Percy just waved them over, looking impatient.

I grinned and stood up following him. Annabeth followed, looking hopeful, "The lights are on inside. Maybe it's open."

"Or at least someone's home." I giggled.

"Snack bar." Percy nodded, wistfully.

"Snack Bar." Annabeth agreed.

Grover looked at the three of us strangely, "Are you three crazy! This place is weird."

I rolled my eyes. He was still jumpy from the furies. He had been the whole way here. So I ignored him and walked up to the building, making my way through the statues which were a bit nerve-racking.

Grover looked at a Statue of a satyr and frowned, "Bla-ha-ha." He bleated, "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand."

I walked up beside Percy as we stood in front of a door to the warehouse. I raised my hand to knock, but Grover grabbed my hand.

"Don't knock!" He hissed, "I smell monsters."

I shook him off me, "It's nothing."

"Your nose is clogged up from the furies." Annabeth agreed with me, "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Starving." My stomach rumbled in agreement.

"Meat." He scoffed, "I'm a vegetarian."

"Your loss." I shrugged, thinking about how many burgers I could eat before I became physically ill.

Percy paused and looked at Grover strangely, "You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans."

"Those aren't meats." I said quickly, "Less talky, more knocky. If I don't get a burger soon I'll eat one of you."

And immediately the door swung open.

The women on the other side wore a black burqa which covered her head to toe. I looked down at her hands which were wrinkled and a light brown. Judging by the burka she didn't spend a whole lot of time in the sun, so I assumed she must've been Middle Eastern.

"Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

I felt annoyance climb up my throat. I hadn't had a curfew since I was sixteen years old. I didn't like to be treated like a child, even when I _was _a child.

But this women had food, so I sucked it up.

"They're...um..." Annabeth stuttered.

"We're orphans." Percy said quickly.

I rolled my eyes, staring at him incredulously.

But the women just gasped, "Orphans? But, my dears! Surely not!"

"We got separated from our caravan." Percy continued, ignored the horrified looks we gave him, "Our...circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station is we got lost-"

"Stop." I said firmly.

"-but he may have forgotten,"

"No, just stop."

"-or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"

I turned to look at Annabeth as if to say 'I tried'. She just shook her head exasperated. I looked back at the middle eastern women hoping Percy hadn't just thrown away their chances at burgers. She would never forgive him.

"Oh, my dears!" The women said softly, buying their story, "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."

At the words 'dining area' I was already though the door. Percy and Annabeth stuttered out half 'thank you's' before following me.

Annabeth smacked Percy around the head, "Circus caravan?!"

"Always have a strategy, right?"

"Your head is full of kelp!"

We wandered through more statues, all very live sized and in different poses. I didn't stop to look at them. Statuary wasn't exactly my cup of tea. Plus there was food to be had. I didn't have time to stop and smell the flowers .

I got into the back and froze, gapping at what was in front of me. Fast food grill and deep fryer where I could smell french fries cooking, a soda fountain with every type of pop I could imagine and a few I hadn't even heard of. Nachos, pretzels, everything wonderful.

"Please, sit down." Aunty Em pointed to a steel picnic table and I quickly slid in, trying to ignore the dull ache in my stomach. I was _so _hungry.

"Awesome." Percy slid in next to me, Annabeth and Grover went to the other side.

"Um..." Grover kept wringing his hands, "We don't have any money."

We all sent him incredulous looks. Way to give up the gig!

"No, no, children." Aunty Em assured them gently, "No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

I felt a burst of relief. Awesome.

"Thank you ma'am," Annabeth let out a breath of relief.

Aunty Em stiffened and I imagined that she would be pursing her lips underneath the black shawl that covered her face. "Quite all right, Annabeth." Said said softly, "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."

I clenched my jaw as a strange sensation flew through me. Resentment? I narrowed my eyes at Annabeth. I wanted Aunty Em to notice _me._ And to compliment _me. _I had pretty eyes too.

But my mind was soon taken off that as Aunty Em soon appeared with huge trays of food and drink. The second it was put in front of me I started to inhale the fries, grabbing huge handfuls into my mouth. The more I ate the better I felt. Happier, stronger, but my mind started to go hazy. I felt sleepy and dazed. I could remember my comforter back in my dorm in my world. The real world. I could imagine curling around it as I melted into sleep. It seemed like a good idea.

"What's that hissing noise?" Grover asked, chewing on a wad of wax paper.

"Who cares." I grumbled, my mouth full of food.

Grover sent me a dirty look then turned back to Aunty Em with a questioning look.

"Hissing?" Aunty Em sounded confused, "Perhaps you hear the deep fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."

I wished she would look at me. I just wanted her attention. Maybe she'd lift her veil and I could see her eyes. I bet they were prettier then Annabeth's...

"I take vitamins. For my ears."

"That's admirable. But please, relax."

Percy nodded, hanging onto every word that came out of her mouth, "So, you sell gnomes."

"Oh, yes. And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."

No, I didn't know. In fact I had no idea that statuary was even a thing. But I didn't want to disappoint her so I nodded my head enthusiastically.

"Do you get a lot of people here?" I asked through my burger, "Or do you do like...online orders?"

"Online? No No, not really my area of expertise, Jane. Express delivery." She smiled at me and I felt my heart soar. I stuffed a few more fries into my face as she continued, "Business is not so well. Since the highway was built...most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."

I nodded in agreement. It must get real lonely out here all by herself. I wondered if she had any family or friends out here.

"Ah." Aunty Em turned towards Percy, who was staring at a statue of a young gril looking terrified, "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

I nodded, swinging my bow off my shoulder and putting it on the table. It was just getting in my way and was _super _uncomfortable. It wasn't like I needed it anyways.

"You make these statues yourself?" Percy asked.

"Oh, yes." Aunty Em nodded, "Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my states. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company."

Annabeth stopped eating, which was fine with me as it meant more food for me. The blonde haired girl leaned forward, "Two sisters?"

I rolled my eyes. Way to be tactful Annabeth. That was probably a sensitive topic for the old lady.

But Aunty Em continued, "It's a terrible story. Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad women was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a...a boyfriend, you know, and this bad women was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed with me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price, such a price."

"Percy." Annabeth whispered, looking nervous. I couldn't imagine why. For the first time since I'd left camp I didn't feel like I was about to get eaten. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting.'

"But we just got here." I whined, spewing half eaten food in a very unladylike manner.

Aunty Em continued to stare down Annabeth, "Such beautiful grey eyes..." She whispered, "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen grey eyes like those..."

I felt something stirring in the back of my mind and my entire body stiffened. But I ignored it, instead focusing on Annabeth's eyes wondering what made them so wonderful.

I was also starting to wonder what the hell Annabeth's problem was. She was scooting back from poor Aunty Em like she had the plague. Stuttering and looking around wide eyes. It looked like she was about to attack her!

I placed my hand carefully on the hilt of my sword, deciding that if Annabeth went all wacko and decided to attack the old lady, I'd have to stop her. Cause demigods were supposed to help people...right?

Aunty Em leaned forward to try to calm Annabeth down by slowly stroking her cheek, but Annabeth just jumped back, standing up and walking away.

"Annabeth!" I hissed, my hand still on my sword.

I looked at the others to see if they were acting as rude. Grover was jumpy, but he was always jumpy. Percy had his mouth stuffed with burger and was staring at Annabeth, confused.

"We really should go..." Annabeth urged them. I frowned at her. I mean sure, we had this whole quest thing going on, but...food...

"Yes!" Grover jumped to his feet, "The _ringmaster_ is waiting! Right!"

I was still unsure. We had all this food, and it seemed rude to just eat and leave.

"Please, dear!" Aunty Em said pleasantly, "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"

"A pose?" Annabeth squeaked.

I nodded immediately, I was game. I got food, she got her picture. Then we could go work on our quest. I'm sure Aunty Em would be nice enough to give us directions. She was such a sweet lady after all.

"A photograph." Aunty Em said sweetly, "I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everybody loves children."

"I don't think we can, ma'am." Annabeth said quickly, "Come on Percy, Jane-"

"Sure we can." Percy said quickly, giving Annabeth a strange look. I grinned, glad I had Percy on my side at least. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"

I nodded with him, "Yeah, then we can move on. It'll only take a second."

"Yes, Annabeth." Aunty Em purred, "Just a second, whats the harm?"

Annabeth bit her lip nervously, but me and Percy were already following Aunty Em back into the garden where the statues lay. After a few moments I heard her following us. I couldn't believe how rude she was being.

We sat down on a park bench beside a stone satyr which Grover looked at nervously.

"Now, I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen either side. Jane, love, why don't you sit down in front."

I nodded and sat cross-legged in front of Percy, taking off my sword and pushing it under the bench behind me. I don't really know why I did that. It _was _kind of uncomfortable.

That same annoying pressure in the back of my mind came back, but I pushed it away.

Percy looked upwards, "Not much light for a photo."

I rolled my eyes and pushed down the sarcastic side of me that wanted to remind him of flash. I shifted so that my legs were out in front of me.

"Oh, enough. Enough for us to see each other, yes?"

"Where's your camera?" Grover asked.

Aunty Em stepped back, looking at them with a soft hum of approval, "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"

I tried to smile, but honestly it probably looked more like a grimace. I was never able to smile for photographs, I hoped it would turn out okay.

"That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand..."

"Grover." Aunty Em said, disapprovingly, "Look this way, dear."

"Percy-" Annabeth said under her breath.

"I will be just a moment." Aunty Em said, "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..."

I let my smile drop and turned to look at Annabeth who was still leaned towards Percy in fear.

"What's your problem?" I hissed at her under my breath.

Annabeth sent me her dirtiest look, but then turned back to Percy, "Something's wrong."

"Wrong?" Aunty Em asked as she unwrapped her veil. My arms felt heavier and more relaxed. I looked back at Aunty Em. I just wanted to look at her, see her face, her eyes..."Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"

"That _is _uncle Ferdinand!"

"Look away from her." Something pushed me from behind and I went sprawling forward with a yelp. Something heavy landed on top of me and I grunted as the air pushed out of my lungs. The heavy thing, which turned out to be Percy, rolled off of me, landing in a heap beside me.

I looked over at him and my eyes went fuzzy.

Percy started to look up but something behind them Annabeth yelled, "No, don't!"

Suddenly everything was clear. Annabeth had gone insane! She was trying to attack at mortal women!

I grabbed my sword, quickly forcing myself to my feet. Annabeth had to be stopped. She was going to jeopardize the whole quest. She was going to hurt Aunty Em!

I didn't know why, but I knew that it was important that she not hurt the old lady. Protect the old Lady. It was the most important thing in the world.

_Protect the Old Lady. Protect the Old lady..._

I reached under the bench and grabbed my sword, then turned to attack Annabeth. But she was gone. Damn invisibility cap, This was going to be harder than I thought.

"Run!" I heard Grover's strangled yelp. He ran across the ground yelling, '_Maia'. _His sneakers sprung to life.

I raised my sword as he prepared to dive bomb Aunty Em, but the Old Lady just snarled. "Leave him. The Grey Eyed one."

I didn't register the change in her vocal tone, and I didn't turn to look at her. Instead I ran off into the statues without a second thought. Neither the order, nor the intent behind it seemed to bug me. I needed to find Annabeth and I needed to stop her.

_Protect the old Lady..._

Percy was still with Aunty Em, who was battling Grover the flying satyr. I didn't know where Annabeth was. Looking down I realized the ground was covered in plaster dust. I saw smudges in it that resembled footprints and I grinned.

Reaching down I cupped my hand around a pile of the dust and stood up, looking around. I didn't know if the dust would work against magic invisibility hats, but it was something.

"Don't listen to her!" I heard Annabeth shout somewhere to my left, "Run Percy!"

I headed in that direction, hoping Annabeth hadn't taken up any spare lesson in ventriloquism. I thought I heard a rustling behind me and I turned, throwing the power into the air. But it just floated there and fell to the ground. I lifted my sword higher.

A though '_thump_' echoed throughout the garden, followed by an inhuman snarl. For a moment I faltered, wondering what had made the noise. But then a fog fell over my mind and I dropped it.

I _needed_ to protect the old lady.

I heard hush whispers coming from behind a fallen over statue. I walked closer and saw two heads. One jet black...

And the other honey blonde.

I quickly leaned up against one of the statues nearby and listened in,

"I'd kill her myself, but...but you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You - You've got a chance."

"Where's Jane?"

"You can't count on her right now. Something's up with her mind. The Monster's got a hold of it and manipulating the mist pretty heavily around it. You leave her to me, I'll try to knock some sense into her."

I narrowed my eyes. Monster? What monster?

I clenched my sword tighter. She was trying to throw me off. She must know I was listening in.

I leaned in again to see Annabeth sprouting off some science mumbo-jumbo while Percy glared at her.

"Would you speak English." He snapped.

"I am!" She said in the same tone, tossing him a glass ball of some sort, "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."

I felt something coming to the forefront of my mind. That weird confidence I felt at camp whenever Percy went into battle. This would be a battle that he would win.

Images also came to my mind. More statues but inside. It was daylight. There was a blond woman, not Annabeth, getting turned to stone. Snakes for hair. Was that _Uma Thurman_?

I shook my head, wondering what the hell that was. It was important, I should focus on it. It had something to do with this quest.

But then Annabeth popped up in front of me and my focus was lost.

_Stop the grey eyed one._

"Okay..." Annabeth said calmly, looking at my sword, "Jane. I really don't want to do this, but you need to snap out of it. Medusa has you in a trance."

Medusa? I racked my brain. Snakes for hair. Eyes turn you to stone. Uma Thurman...

But my body had started what my brain was still processing. My arms raised and I swiped my sword at Annabeth. She pulled her bronze knife out of nowhere and parried with ease, slipping the knife in order to get close to my face.

"Jane!" She shouted. 'It's the mist! Focus!"

I tried, but whatever it was had a hold on my body. I threw force into my sword, dislodging her knife from it, before turning and jamming my elbow into her face. She didn't expect it and groaned, holding her nose.

She looked up, fury in her eyes, "Oh, You asked for it!"

Dodging my next blowed she twisted behind me and raised her hand, slamming the hilt of her knife into the back of my head.

It didn't knock me out like I thought it would, but it hurt like hell.

"Ow!" I whined, rubbing the back of my head, "That hurt." Whatever mojo the lady had put on my mind finally vanished. To show Annabeth that I wasn't about to kill her anymore I sheathed my sword.

Annabeth huffed, lowering her knife looking slightly pleased. I had a rush of memories come back into my head. Right, Medusa in the movie was played my Uma Thurman. Made more sense now.

"You need to go help Percy." Annabeth urged me.

I blinked at her, "I'm sure he can handle it."

She narrowed her eyes at me dangerously.

"Alright, alright." I raised both my hand, "I'm going."

I crept through the statues, towards where I could hear the hissing and rasping of the snakes. My mind was clearer now, and the thick fog that had previously clouded my judgements was gone. Thank god for that. I was a bit peeved that the monster had been able to manipulate me so easily and I really wanted to give her some payback.

But another part of me wanted to ignore Annabeth and hide. This was _Medusa. _The 'turns you into stone' one. She was a big baddie in the mythological world. I couldn't go up against that!

But Percy probably could. They'd killed her in the movie. I couldn't remember how exactly, but they'd done it. I just needed to make sure he didn't die before that happened.

Yeah, I could do that.

In the distance I could still hear Grover dive bombing Medusa, which officially made him braver than me. I crept up, keeping my eyes firmly on the ground.

I saw Percy in front of me and tapped him on the shoulder.

He jumped, whipping around and I held up my hands. "Sorry." I whispered, 'Here to help."

Percy nodded and turned back to Medusa. I could tell he was in battle mode, no time for chit-chat. He had a monster to kill.

I heard Grover make another dive, but Medusa just growled, grabbing his ankle and throwing him until he crashed into something. I looked up to the left to see a dazed Grover rising from the stone bear.

I looked at Percy and he nodded over to Grover without looking up from his glass ball. I ran over and help him up.

"You okay?" I whispered.

He blinked at me, dazed, "Oh, you're not gonna kill me?"

I laughed under my breath, "No Annabeth...knocked some sense into me."

"Hey!" Percy yelled, drawing Medusa's attention to him. I looked over, raising a hand to cut Medusa out of my view and focus on Percy. He was walking sideways towards her, holding the glass ball out in his hand.

And Medusa wasn't stopping him. I could hear an amused chuckle come out of her. Her back was turned to me as she focused completely on Percy. If I wanted to I could sneak up behind her and get her. Maybe not kill her, but harm her enough that Percy could finish the job.

I grabbed my sword, holding it tight. I cursed how short it was for the first time. I'd have to get in close in order to do any damage. And I'd have to keep my eyes closed. I wished that I hadn't left my bow inside, but that was probably the mind control.

"You wouldn't harm an old women, Percy." Medusa said softly, the snakes around her head hissing softly.

I walked slowly towards her, my eyes on the ground as I tried not to make any noise.

Grover looked like he wanted to shout to Percy, but held his tongue, not wanting to draw attention to me. I wondered where the hell Annabeth was. But it was probably best that she stay out of this for now. Medusa really seemed to have it out for the daughter of Athena.

I raised my sword, ready to strike.

And then everything happened at once.

Medusa snarled, whipping around and grabbing my throat, lifting me high into the air. Luckily I snapped my eyes shut immediately and was spared getting turned to stone. Unluckily my sword fell to the floor with a clang.

"Jane!" Grover gasped.

I reached up and wrapped my hands around her claws, drying to push them off.

"The Daughter of Nike." Medusa chuckled. "The only one in the world..."

"Ah yes." I croaked out, keeping my eyes clenched shut, "That's the thing, right? Crowning of champion and all that." I didn't really know if that meant anything to this monster, but I was hoping that it might get me at least a get out of dying free card.

But to my chagrin the Monster just chuckled. ""Is that what they told you? That you're _special?"_

I felt my heart plummet, well there went that plan, "Well, not in so many words, no..."

Medusa laughed and I cursed under my breath, hoping Percy would hurry up and kill her already. How did they do this in the movie again? I couldn't remember. My brain was still had fuddled from the intoxicating smell that had led us here.

"I warn these other demigods not to be pawns, but you my dear are the biggest pawn of all. The Olympians care little for you. Your just the child of a _minor goddess. _A useful one, but nothing of import. You are...what is the word? _Expendable._"

I could feel my indignation rising in my chest, but instead of making me angry, it made me feel very small. I wanted to plug my ears and hum under my breath until she stopped. Unfortunately I was more focused on tearing her hands away.

"Percy." I tried to say as she tightened her grip. "Any second now!"

I heard a '_schlop_' sound, following my a '_plop_'. The hands loosened around my neck and I took in a deep breath, falling to my knees.

"Don't move!" I hear Annabeth order sharply. I kept my eyes shut, trying to catch my breath and get the strength to stand up again. After a few seconds I heard her whisper, "Okay, it's safe to look."

I opened my eyes and Immediately jumped back with a yelp. My hand had been two inches away from a pile of monster goop beside a golden pile of dust.

I looked around for the head, only to see Annabeth holding it in her hands, green goop dripping from it as well. A black veil wrapped around it.

"You okay?" Annabeth asked me, her voice trembling slightly.

I rubbed my neck where I expected monster shaped hand marks were slowly appearing in blue and green, "I think so, yeah."

"Why didn't..." Percy swallowed, "Why didn't the head evaporate?"

Annabeth looked at the head in her hand, slightly disgusted, "Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war. Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can sill petrify you."

"Fantastic." I grumbled, leaning down to help Grover to his feet.

Percy laughed, clapping Grover on the back, "The Red Baron! Good job, man."

Grover was still fazed, but grinned all the same, "That really was not fun. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick-part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."

I nodded, only half paying attention. Reaching down I grabbed my sword and re sheathed it before following the others back into the warehouse.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to do something different with Medusa, give Jane her own thing to do. Plus I wanted to add some badass Annabeth to the mix, as she didn't have a whole lot of stuff to do.**

**I haven't been able to update, mostly because of this one class which was stressing me out so bad that I actually dropped it. But I feel a hundred times better now that I've done that. Although I still have a huge protect on The Hephaestion due soon, but I'll try to get another chapter out quickly.**

**For anybody who's interested, I have a Percy Jackson tumblr that I've recently made, the link's on my Profile.**

**Thank you guys for the lovely reviews. I know that a lot of the PJO fandom has just given up on OCs, so It's nice to see that you guys were willing to give my story a chance. Thank you my lovelies!**

**So Review with questions, concerns, thoughts etc etc. **

**Until Next Time,**

**-Ash**


End file.
